


Moving on

by Allaska



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Circus, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2019-08-25 12:01:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 64,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16660777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allaska/pseuds/Allaska
Summary: What if Jane never met Angela? Circus Jane. AU





	1. The Show

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy.  
> Comments are very appreciated.

"You should leave" She was sitting on a chair in Patrick's dressing room – if you could call it that - while he fixed his tie.

"What are talking about now Sam?" he asked in an exasperated voice. Patrick was tired of having that conversation, even his voice sounded exhausted. But Sam never actually said the word 'leave' before. She talked about changes, but that was new.

"You know, find something else to do. Leave all this behind, this is not for you, the show is not for you."

"I grew up in the middle of all this; I'm the best in what I do, how is this not for me?"

"You never enjoyed it, Patrick! From the boy wonder to Patrick Jane the psychic. You don't have to do this for him, you don't own him anything."

"My father is dead; I'm not doing this for him."

He pretended to be busy in front of the mirror so he wouldn't have to look at her.

"You're the one who's always saying "we're a family, we have to stick together, you're either with the show or you're not" How can you even suggest me to leave?!"

"I say that because I'm happy here, Pete is happy, we cherish our lives here. You're not happy, Patrick. And we'll still be your family if you leave, don't be afraid to move on. You have a gift, use it to do something that makes you proud rather than ashamed!"

"I have news for you Sam, I'm not a psychic," he turned to her with a mocking smile.

"I'm not kidding, Patty, this is destroying you. You used to be a dreamer, where is that boy?"

"Dreamer? To get rich out of people's pain, grief and stupidity? that dream?" He sighed. "You think I'm doing this for my father? Those plans you call dreams were because of him, because I needed to prove that I could do better. I'm free from that now."

"What about the dream to have a family?"

"I haven't given up on that one yet."

Jane put a hand on Sam's shoulder and looked tenderly at her, "I have to go. Show's about to start."

He opened the curtain just a bit, people were cheering, you could say he was famous in a certain way. He put on his charming smile to greet them. No one noticed it was fake.

Sam sighed deeply staring in the mirror in front of her. What a weird relationship she had with that man. She was about ten years older than he was, but she felt like his mother, and like a mother she would do anything to see him happy.

…

"You lost someone recently didn't you Kathy?"

"Yes! My grandfather." The woman answered excited. The rest of the crowd stayed in silence, anxious for what would come next.

"Yes, your grandfather," Jane smiled. "He closed his eyes in concentration. "He says he misses you very much. You two were close right?"

"Yes! We were very close!"

Jane walked towards the woman and stopped in front of her seat, he took her hand and she got up. He laid his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"Is there something bothering you, Kathy? A big decision you're afraid of doing?"

"Yes, I-I have a, it's…"

"Shh. That's okay, you don't need tell us. But your grandfather, he knows how you're feeling; he knows what you're going through, Kathy."

"He does?"

"Yes. And he wasn'ts me to tell you to don't be afraid, he's on your side."

"He is?"

Jane smiled and nodded.

The woman abruptly hugged Patrick and he awkwardly hugged back. "Thank you Mr. Jane!"

The little crowd cheered and clapped.

…

"Good show today, Patrick."

"Thanks, Pete." Jane undid his tie with anger and threw it behind him. He did the same with his jacket.

"Something wrong?"

"Nope."

It was obviously not true but Pete was too scared to ask.

"What do you think the woman's 'big decision' was?"

"No idea." Jane sat in a bench inside the tent and rolled his sleeves, looking to his friend, curious to know where he was going with that.

"But you told her to do whatever it was. What if she was thinking about, I don't know, killing someone?"

"Well that would be awkward." Jane laughed but Pete looked worried.

"Come on, Pete. Look at those people! It was just something stupid about her job or marriage. Don't worry. It'll probably be good for her to do something courageous for once in her life."

Jane tried again, seeing his friend was still worried, "maybe she's contemplating if she should smoke pot for the first time."

That made Pete smile. "Well in that case kudos to grandpa!"

Jane looked through a slit in the curtain, carefully so no one would see him.

"Why does it always take them so much to just leave?"

"Why don't you just use this exit," The man pointed to an opening in the dressing room tent.

"I don't want to leave; I'm waiting for someone."

"Oh," Pete sounded excited. "Have you already chose a victim?"

"You make me sound like a serial killer, Pete" he continued to look through the crack without paying much attention to his friend.

"I'll need your help, come here." Jane gestured for his friend to join him."See the angry brunet with the little girl?"

Pete stepped away from the curtain, "are you kidding me?" he shouted whispered, "she's a cop!"

"I know she's a cop, who do you think you're talking to?"

"And she has a kid!"

"Not her kid, I'm sure of it. And she's not married either."

"I'm not helping you with that!" Pete left Jane's side.

"Why not?"

"She's a cop, Patrick Jane. My wife will kill us!"

"I'll deal with Sam later, Ok?"

"What's got into you? What do you want with a stormtrooper anyway?"

"Stormtrooper? You're spending too much time with your wife." He mocked. "I just think it'll be fun. She looks like the kind of woman who knows what she's doing"

"She'll eat you alive!"

"Well, maybe I like that. Come on, Pete!"

"What do you need my help for?"

"I need to be alone with her, take the kid away."

"You want me to kidnap the kid?"

Pete was so alarmed Jane didn't know whether to laugh or slap his friend. But he probably gave reasons for the man's worries.

"Just take her to do something, I don't know, maybe to see the elephant."

"Daisy hates kids."

"As long as she doesn't eat the girl, that's fine."

The big man sighed. "Fine."

"I knew I could count on you, buddy!" Jane tapped a nervous Pete on the back.


	2. Sunday

A large group was still in front of the main tent's exit. They were planning what attraction they would see next, deciding if they were going to eat, and quite a few just wanted to shake hands with the charming psychic.

Jane decided to go meet with his, as Pete used to say, 'fans'.

He used to like the attention, or maybe he only ever just believed to like it, either way, things had changed, now it was hard to smile and be the delightful man that people expected him to be, but he always managed perfectly.

Two words said with a dazzling smile, a pat on the back from the husbands a caressing in the arm from the wives, and they all would spend weeks talking about how fascinating the man was.

He got a few phone numbers, most were from married women he would discard upfront, and if he was, in fact, interested in someone, he wasn't going to call them. He had other means, that guaranteed a no strings attached encounter.

It was not only his attention they were looking for.

People wanted to use him as a fortuneteller, to ask him to give a message to dead family members, they even come to him for advice, especially in the love and financial area, and there were always a few peculiar requests.

Lately, all the pretending was making him sick. He never enjoyed deceiving those people, but the little fame, gratitude, all the ladies and mostly the money and power made it worth, more than that, it made it fun. Well, it used to feel like that, now it was boring.

Jane couldn't see how life could be worth living if you're bored. Add to it that the situation was making him feel despicable and you would get an idea of how Jane felt about his life.

Today things were calm, though. He wasn't very well known in California, and this was their first week there. Less than five minutes later and he was free from the crowd.

Jane sighed. "Done for the day." He watched the last couple he talked to walking away.

The whole place smelled like popcorn and grass, and the air was warm for a night in the open camp.

"Your lady is still inside the tent." Pete answered rubbing his belly.

Jane smirked "I can meet with her later, the night is young. Beer?" He pointed to the other side of the corridor formed by small food and drinks tents.

Pete nodded.

"Aunt T!" The kid whined in protest, pushing the woman's jacket sleeve.

The brunet covered her cellphone so whoever was on the other line couldn't hear her. "Annabeth, sweetie, just wait five minutes, okay?"

The girl groaned and rolled her eyes, certainly something she had learned with 'aunt T'.

The tent was completely empty except for the two of them. Annie climbed on the stage, few minutes before occupied by the blond mystical man doing his tricks. Before she could check on what was behind the curtains her aunt gestured for her to get down and the kid gave up on trying to call for the woman's attention and decided to play on the benches on the back, where Teresa couldn't see her.

Annie was playing, jumping from a bench to other when she heard a couple passing by; they were talking about a woman who could spit fire. That immediately caught her attention, the little girl stuck her head out of the tent following the couple with her eyes, she looked over her shoulder to check on her aunt, still on the phone, too busy to notice.

She took the courage and stepped outside.

A few steps ahead and she couldn't see the couple anymore. She got lost and in the middle of all that, everybody was loud, she couldn't hear her, and the only thing she could see in front of her were their long legs.

The girl was smart but being in place so full of people like that was new. She froze unable to continue.

….

"Well that's lucky!"

"What is?" Pete looked confused as he watched his friend hurry back, to the other side of the corridor, "Patrick!" he shouted in vain.

Pete watched when Jane got behind the little girl they saw earlier on his show and held her shoulder.

"Hey, calm down. You don't want to get in the middle of this mess." Jane pointed to a horde passing through just where the girl was heading, probably public from a grand attraction that had just ended.

Seeing all those people, three times her height, passing through without paying any attention to what was under their noses, she could nearly see herself being trampled by them.

"Come on" He walked with her until they were back to his tent's entrance.

Jane squatted down in front of the kid making them the same height.

"What are you doing here alone?

The girl was scared for a second, ready to run back to her aunt, but her freighted expression instantly turned into a surprised excited smile when she recognized the blondie.

"You're the man from the show!" She was thrilled to see the psychic in front of her.

"Yep, that was me. I'm Patrick," Jane answered with a bright smile. He heard heavy steps coming in his direction "and this is my friend Pete," Jane pointed to the large man standing behind him without even looking.

"I'm Annie."

"Nice to meet you, Annie" He shook her little hand. He could tell she felt proud to be greeted like an adult.

"So what are you doing out here, Annie? Are you alone?"

"No, I'm with my aunt." The girl looked to the inside of the tent and Jane followed her eyes.

The woman was still seating there talking on the phone. She was facing the stage and from the tent's opening you could only see her from behind. One of her hands was brushing her hair and her legs wouldn't stop moving, even by that viewpoint it was clear she was very tense. The fact that she still hadn't noticed her niece's absence was another clear indication.

"Aunt, hm?" Grinning, Jane quickly looked over his shoulder at Pete who just ignored him.

"Then you should probably wait for your aunt. She's going to be worried if she can't find you."

"Yeah, okay." The girl answered with not much enthusiasm.

"What is it?"

"She said we're going to leave when she's done; I haven't seen anything yet!"

"Why does she want to leave?"

"She said she has an emergency at work. She's always working;" The girl frowned and crossed her arms.

"I'm sure she'd like to stay but cops are always busy."

"How do you know she's a cop?"

"Don't you remember the show?"

"Oh," the little girl formed a 'o' with her mouth.

"I have a little thing for you," he pointed to her left red coat pocket. "Why don't you check what's in there?"

Annie worked her little fingers to open the pocket, a small windmill was inside it. The girl's face was pure joy and excitement.

While Annie played with the windmill, Jane saw her aunt getting up and walking towards them. He waved at her and she seemed relieved to recognize him. She figured he was just trying to impress the girl with a few tricks, as long as she could see them, it was fine. She kept talking on the phone looking at them from inside the tent.

"That's so cool!" She showed the colorful toy to Jane: "Can I keep it?"

Jane turned his attention back to the girl. "Sure you can, it's yours."

"What else can you do?"

"Hum, if you concentrate hard enough I can read your mind." He tapped her forehead with his finger and she let out a short laugh.

"Yeah, right."

"You don't believe me?" He faked being shocked.

"I don't know" She analyzed his face, unable to keep a serious expression. "How can you do that?"

"I have magical powers," he said in spook voice, making the little one giggle.

"Are you a witch?"

"Ah I'm-"

"That's exactly what he is, kid!" Peter answered between a loud, husky laughter; Patrick looked over his shoulder but didn't say anything.

The girl smiled not sure of why she made the man laugh.

Jane rose to his feet and swiped at his knees to clean them off, he stretched his legs, releasing a relived sound from being out of that uncomfortable position.

"Annie, Pete here has a friend I think you would like to meet."

"Who?"

Jane stood by the girl's side, "Can you see that tree, close to that rusty old car?" he pointed to a place behind the food tents; it was dark and clearly not meant for the public to visit.

"Yes…"

"Now, look closely."

"What is it?"

"Just look"

The girl tilted her head to one side and squinted her eyes trying to figure out what was the large form moving there. "Oh my god! Is that an elephant?" The girl's eyes became twice as big.

"Yes, that's Daisy." Pete was the one who answered.

"Can we go see her? Please! Please!" The girl jumped up and down.

"Why don't you ask your aunt?"

Only now the girl saw the woman standing by her side. Even Lisbon was surprised that Jane had noticed her presence.

"God, Annie! I told you to wait inside." She sounded relieved, even though she was watching the girl from a distance the whole time.

She wanted to scold Annie for her own good, but she could only blame it on herself for leaving the girl on her own. She would have the "don't talk to strangers" talk, later."

"Sorry." The girl answered with her head down.

"It's okay; We were just talking to Annie about Daisy." Jane felt a little sorry for the girl.

"Can we go to see Daisy? Please?"

"Daisy?"

"Please auntie T? Please!" The little girl pleaded.

"Who's Daisy?"

"The elephant." Annie took her aunt's hand and used the other to point in the direction of the animal. "See? There."

"Annie," She looked at both men who seemed to be waiting for her answer just as much as her niece was. That situation was really strange. "I don't think we can go there now she's resting; we can come back another day."

"But Pete said we can go!"

"Pete?" Lisbon echoed, confused.

"Daisy is taking a little break today, but she loves kids. She would like the visit." Pete answered a little uncomfortable with the lie.

The woman looked at Jane as if asking for confirmation, and the blond smiled back at her. Different from the big man on his side, this one exuded self-confidence.

"Fine, let's go meet Daisy."

"Yaaay"

"Annie!" "Just a few minutes, we don't have much time."

The kid was euphoric; she ran pushing Pete by the hand. Lisbon laughed watching the big man trying to catch up with the little girl.

She and Jane followed them at a much slower pace.

"Aunt T?"

The woman smiled looking down. "Teresa Lisbon"

"A pleasure to meet you Teresa Lisbon"

"I'm Patrick."

"I know; I saw your show."

He beamed her and nodded.

A couple of steps later he commented, "that was a long phone call."

"Are you controlling my calls?"

"No, no, I'm sorry. That came out wrong." He laughed apologetically, "I just wanted to know if everything's fine."

"I have an emergency at work; I was trying to gain some time."

"Hard case?"

She side looked him, frowning, "I tell Annie not to speak with strangers and not only she does that, but she also tells everything about my life"

"She didn't tell. Swear. And I'm not a stranger."

"Then how do you know I'm a cop? And please don't say psychic powers."

He tried to hold back a smirk. "The rocks here know you're a cop, Teresa."

They smiled at each other.

"Really?" Lisbon was surprised with how much she was enjoying their little walk. "People hardly see me as one."

"Eh. We like to know when you guys are around, so we learn to recognize."

"I wonder why." This time she was the one smirking.

He laughed looking up at the sky.

They were silence for a few seconds. Lisbon could see Annie feeding the elephant with apples while they were still at some distance from the place, walking like lazy turtles.

Lisbon gave up on trying building a wall between them.

She sighed and admitted to herself that she needed to talk to someone, even if he was the handsome stranger that worked as a fake psychic. "It's not the case, I mean it is, but not for the reasons you think."

"What reasons would that be?"

"No, I mean, is not the investigation. Someone with a lot of money and power wants the case closed, and I have to make a bunch of phone calls, explain all my actions and kiss a bunch of old asses."

"Politics."

"Yes." She looked at him with a sad smile, glad to have someone to listen to her.

"And the old asses think you're too young and too pretty to be the boss."

"No." She looked at him sideways, unable to stop an embarrassed, flattered smile. "They just think I can't handle it. Or that I'm too naive. I don't know, maybe they are right."

"Come on, now. You don't really believe that. You know you deserve to be where you are."

"I know I'm a good cop, I'm just not sure about the 'being a boss' thing."

"Don't worry I know you're one of the best in what you do."

"How would know that?"

"I just do. And your bosses will see that too, they just need some time."

Lisbon didn't know how to respond. He sounded like he meant it, and he did manage to make her feel better, but it could easily be a cheap pick up line.

They stopped walking. Lisbon leaned against an old fence, or the part of it that was still there, and watched her niece from afar.

"Annie is a great kid. She's very smart."

She tossed her head to the side and looked back, beaming at the psychic, standing a step behind her, "when she's not becoming best friends with a stranger, yes she is."

"She saw my show," he shrugged, I wasn't exactly an estranger. Plus, she trusts you, she knows that if she screams you will be there in a matter of seconds to rescue her. You and your gun." He looked at her hand on her back. An old habit of, every once in a while, making sure she still had her weapon.

"Sorry. I came straight from work."

"That's ok, just not a big fan of those things."

That was surprising and refreshing to hear, she thought.

Usually, when men found out she was a cop they would run away, but on the rare times that they stuck around, they would always try to look more manly by trying to prove they were better with guns than she was.

It was pathetic but she had got used to it by now.

She licked her lips anxiously, "You really think Annie trusts me that much?"

"She does. But there's also the fact that I'm great with kids. They love me."

She chuckled, "I'm sure they do."

Jane joined Lisbon and leaned against the old fence, nearly touching her arm.

"So, what does your boyfriend think about kids?"

An involuntary smile spread across her face. "It's Fiance"

"You know we have a candy machine, and when you're lucky enough it also gives you a pretty pink ring, it's just a dollar, maybe your fiance would like to try it."

"I have a ring. I just forgot it; I'm still not used to it."

"Hm."

"What?"

"I didn't say anything."

She crossed her arms and stared at him.

"Alright, if you insist, I was wondering why you were talking to me, I'm not the kind of guy you're usually interested in have conversations with. Am I?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"That you see me as the charlatan from the circus; you usually wouldn't exchange two words with me."

"That's not true," she raised her voice, "and what does my ring have to do with it?"

"You're not the kind of woman who forgets her engagement ring, Teresa."

"So you think I took off my ring to cheat on my fiancé while I take my 7-year-old niece to a circus?"

"I don't think you would ever cheat on the guy, that's not what I said."

"Then what exactly are you saying?"

He sighed and used both hands in front of him, as a peace sign, "Never mind, I'm sorry. I'm having a bad day and I didn't mean anything by it."

"No, come on. I want to hear it."

"No, you don't," he shook his head, "you won't like it."

"I'm waiting. What can your psychic powers tell you about me?"

"Is not like that. I'm just good at observing people."

"Then tell me. What did you observe?"

He chewed on his bottom lip, studying her.

Lisbon tempted him again, "I'm waiting."

"Fine, you want to hear it, here it goes: You're trapped in a relationship you don't want to be in. You don't wear the ring, so for some few moments, you can pretend you're in control of your life, that you still can run away from it all. And you should, you're too young to worry about being alone, Teresa"

Her jaw clenched. "You're wrong, you don't know anything about me."

"No? Let's see, you're in a relationship, with just the perfect guy for you."

"You're right so far."

"He's caring, nice, he takes things seriously, he always goes by the book, works hard. Probably a cop, too."

"Yes," she nodded, her eyebrows raised.

"He wants a family and you think you do too, but you're not sure about that. He's not as handsome as I am but he's not bad looking either."

"Oh really?" She snorted uncomfortably. "That's some confidence."

"'But why is that I don't like him' You wonder."

"I do like him! I'm engaged to him." She answered in a high voice that didn't even fooled herself.

"Do you love him?"

She tried to say yes, but it felt wrong.

"He's the perfect guy for you, but he's not the guy you want. He's more boring than the newspaper obituaries. He's not funny, he never surprises you-"

"I don't like surprises."

"He doesn't know you well enough to know that that's a lie. You love surprises, but then again you don't want him to know that because he wouldn't know how to surprise you. You two never fight, not even a casual banter, he always does things as he thinks you want him to do, and oh and to complete the package" Jane got closer to Lisbon and whispered in her ear "I'm making you more excited now than he ever made you in bed"

She moved her head away from him and Jane stepped back.

"You're an asshole!"

"Oh I'm usually a lot worse. You caught me in a bad day."

She walked away from the fence, and thought about going to get Annie but it's was probably easier to ask her to come back. Before she could call out for the girl, from behind her back, she heard Jane talking again.

"I think you're unhappy, Teresa."

"I'm not unhappy!"

"You know, only unhappy people take that word as an offense, the happy ones just don't care. Funny isn't?"

"And so what if I am? what can you do about that?"

"I think I could be you're escape route. I want to be."

She glared at him, "I'll get my niece back."

"You should, Pete lied, Daisy hates kids."

If it was possible, that comment made Lisbon even angrier.

"Annie!" She said shouted and gesture for the kid to come back.

While they waited for the girl, Jane stepped forward joining Lisbon.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? But I'm not wrong and you know that."

"Does this charlatan act usually works for you?"

He chuckled, "you have no idea."

Lisbon was watching Annie walking back, without the enthusiasm she had before, it seemed to be taking ages.

"You should come this Sunday. I won't be working. There will be something like a party."

"I thought you were good at reading people. You really think I'd come?"

"I do think you're that desperately, yes. And I do think I could help you."

She ignored him. Five seconds later and Annie was back.

"We're going?"

"Yeah, we have to go," she looked up at the man, "thanks, Pete." It felt weird saying that, they were never really introduced.

"Not a problem." He looked at Lisbon and again to Annie, "bye kiddo."

"Bye Pete." The girl hugged him.

Jane kept on staring Lisbon, making her uncomfortable. But for some reason she couldn't understand, or accept, she didn't want him to stop.

"Bye Patrick"

"Bye Annie, he bent over and shook the little girl's hand, again, "see you Sunday."

"Sunday?" She asked with a smile.

"What?" Was all Lisbon could say.

"Your aunt promised she will bring you to compensate for today."

"Really?" The kid started shaking with excitement.

"I hate you," Teresa muttered to Jane and he smiled proud of himself.


	3. You're Here

The carnival acquired a different atmosphere at the end of the day. The orange sky illuminated the tall red and yellow tents scattered all over the place. It was peaceful, refreshing.

There were mostly small tends, as the one Jane used for his performance, and right in the middle, attracting the attention of everyone around, a complete red one, the biggest of them all, blocked the view to the other side of the circus.

It was nearly impossible for Lisbon to imagine it being carried away every time they had to move to a new city. For Annie it looked like a funny palace made of sweet.

Lights were being turned on, and artists that only presented at night were getting ready for their shows. The place was coming to life and the silence was refreshing contrasted with the loud night about to begin.

Lisbon felt Annie letting go of her hand.

"Peeete!" The girl yelled racing to the man sitting on a tree trunk across the huge tend.

"Hey Kiddo!" Pete answered laughing at her enthusiasm.

Lisbon appeared behind the girl.

"Hey, Miss Lisbon" Teresa thought he seemed a little intimidated by her presence but she was more surprised that he remembered her name.

"Hi… Pete." Teresa said awkwardly. "I thought there would be a crowd today."

"It's our first week here, it always take some time before you folks get used to us." "But don't worry, at night things get more exciting; in an hour or so this place will be buzzing, wait and see."

That wasn't exactly good news to her.

"Can we go see Daisy?" The little girl interrupted abruptly.

Of course, she hadn't forgot about the elephant, it's all she's talked about since the last time they were there.

"Daisy is on the show today, she's getting ready." Pete's husk voice sounded excited and even proud of the animal.

"Really?" "Can we see her show, auntie T?" She asked looking up with pleading eyes.

"Sure." "Let's just take a look aroundandlet Pete work. When it's time for the show we get back here, okay?"

"Fine…" Annie answered with no enthusiasm. Half doubting her aunt was really going to stick around for the elephant's spectacle, half impatience of a child with too much energy.

"So hm, is everybody working tonight?" The question finally popped out of Lisbon's mouth.

"You're wondering about Patrick?"

"No, it's just, a few tends are still closed and…"

"You know, you did quite an impression on the boy," Pete interrupted.

"No, I didn't!" Lisbon answered stronger than she intended; "he just loves to mind other people's business," she proceeded in a calmer tone.

Pete laughed to himself although he was loud. "That he does," He shook his head amused looking down at the large rope in his hand. "But don't worry, he'll find you," the big man teased still laughing.

"Oh great," her unenthusiastic answer dripped in half-false sarcasm. "Come on, Annie." "Thanks Pete, we'll see you at the show"

"Bye, Pete."

Annie waved and the man did the same.

"See you soon, kid."

…

"Annie, what did you promised me in the car?" Lisbon asked her niece a minute later.

"That I would behave."

"And?"

"No talking to strangers. But Pete is not a stranger. You know him!"

"Sweetie…" "Just- don't run from me again, Okay? If you get lost your father will kill me."

"Sorry. I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

"Want some popcorn?"

"Yes!" Annie answered overly excited.

They stopped by the cart and Lisbon handled the girl the small tub of popcorn, keeping one for herself.

While waiting for her aunt to pay, Annie found something intriguing in between the trees far above her head. Her eyes shinned looking at a monster brilliant wheel, so enormous, that it appeared touch the sky. "Can we go there?"

Lisbon looked up to where her niece was pointing and made a face.

"You sure you want to? Won't you get scared up there?"

"I won't! I'm not a little kid!"

Teresa looked tenderly at that tiny pack of Lisbon's DNA. "Okay then, we can go there, but later."

At that moment, the Ferris wheel's lights flickered on. It was a beautiful sight and now that the sunlight was completely gone, the carnival was a show by itself. The bright lights could be seen from miles away and the night sky full of stars only added to that fascinating view.

Like it or not - and Teresa was not a major fan – the circuses' typical sounds and smells combined to that view was quite a unique experience.

Lisbon was too distracted admiring the place, so that she didn't notice the sly smile on Annabeth's face.

For a very brief moment, she felt a puff of hot air hit against her skin.

"Hey!" Lisbon jumped scared nearly choking on her popcorn, she closed her eyes and huffed, holding herself no to curse everything and everyone.

She opened her eyes staring down at Annabeth, who was giggling.

She could feel the psychic man devilishly smirking right behind her.

"Sorry, did I ruin your moment?"

"You do that again and I'll punch you in the face."

"Calm down, woman." He stepped away, defensively putting his hands in front of him.

She frowned and ignored the provocation.

"Hey!" He walked closer and bent to shake the child's hand. "How you doing, Annie?"

"Good!" She answered laughing while shaking his hand up and down.

Jane stayed by her side, turning to face her aunt.

"Thanks for coming."

"I had promised it to Annie," it was all Lisbon answered.

"What matters is that you're both here."

Patrick looked down at the little girl and back at her aunt. "Mind if I be your company tonight?"

"Yes!" Jane was happy with Annie's enthusiasm but he continued to look at Lisbon.

"Yeah, sure."

Annie cheered and Lisbon stuffed a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

Jane showed Annie some of the best things an aspiring magician could buy there and taught her a few quick tricks.

For the whole time Teresa was rather quiet, except from a few laughs she shared watching her niece trying the magic tricks on the psychic and the owners of the small tends.

The place was pretty big, and by now, packed with people.

Besides the usual presentations, food carts, fortunetellers and souvenir sellers, there was an area with typical amusement park attractions - like the Ferris wheel Annie loved the view of - and that's where Jane suggested them to go.

He knew that place so well; he was part of it all. Jane exude confidence and so Lisbon wasn't worried anymore about Annie in the middle of the crowd, not with the psychic around anyway. So she let the kid go a little ahead of them, playing with her new magic tricks arsenal.

"You're still angry about the other day." Jane finally said after a moment of silence and an awkward exchange of looks. He was smiling and shaking his head, looking down at their feet moving slowly.

"I am not!"

"So this isn't about the advice about your fiancée?"

"Advice? That's how you call it?" She chuckled, uncomfortable.

"What would you call it?"

"You being an ass."

"Oh. Okay, maybe I was. Possibly that last part, particularly."

She continued to stare at him in silence.

"Fine, sorry, but I stand by what I said."

"Have you ever apologized before?"

"You were intrigued by it, admit it."

"Intrigued?"

"Yes."

"You don't know the first thing about my life and judges my decisions as if you knew any better; I'm not intrigued by it!" Her words were harsh but her tone didn't quite follow.

"You are here, aren't you?"

"I'm here because of Annie."

"Yes, but you came here today. As in the day I asked you to come because I would be waiting."

"It's my day off."

"Come on, Teresa, we both know better than that."

"You know what, you should just… leave."

"Seriously?"

"I don't even know what you're doing here in the first place."

He sighed loudly.

"I'm sure you have better things to do than follow me around." Lisbon conclude.

"No at all. I'd love to continue to follow you around."

She side glanced him, expecting he would just turn around and go.

"How about we change the subject. Give me another chance, if you still want me to leave then, I'll go."

"…"

"Annie really likes me; she'll be disappointed if I leave."

"Fine." "And I wasn't even thinking about that night, you're the one who brought it up."

"Okay, I'll pretend I believe that." "So, what's the real matter?"

"I have problems at work. That's all."

"Always work."

"That happens when you have a real job. Maybe someday you'll know."

"Teresa, I know it's not the job, you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Forget, your problems. Just let me be your company tonight."

"Isn't that what I'm doing?"

"Well, you don't need to look so grumpy about it." That automatically made Lisbon smile.

"I know this is not about me, you have bigger things to worry about, but try to enjoy it, for Annie, and more importantly, for yourself." "Relax, just for one night don't blame yourself for everybody's problems."

"I don't do that" he arched her eyebrows at her, "Fine. You're right. I'll try."

"Excellent. I'll be on my best behavior tonight, I promise." Jane looked ahead with his big grin.

"What exactly does that mean?" Lisbon asked amused.

"Hm that I won't be an ass, mostly."

"Okay, I can live with that."

He didn't wait much to point at her hand, "So, I see you're wearing your ring."

"That's not changing the subject."

"I'm just sayin-"

"Faster, Aunt T!"

Lisbon sighted relieved when Annabeth yelling interrupted the conversation.

The girl came back running to meet up with Lisbon and Jane, she held her aunt's hand and tried to push her to go faster.

"Come on!" She said happily before holding Jane's hand as well.

…

"Where are we going first?" Jane asked to no one in particular, looking at his surroundings.

"There!" Annie pointed excited to the Ferris wheel. "Can we go there now?"

The question was directed at the Jane that cracked a tiny smirk at the left corner of his mouth while looking at Teresa, mocking her irritated expression at her niece's "choice" of who was in charge that night.

"The line is huge, Annie. Plus I don't want you throwing up popcorn on me," her aunt was the one that answered.

"But you promise!" The girl protested.

"Don't you want to watch the Pete and the elephant's show? If we get in that line we will be late." Lisbon realized she didn't even know how much time they had before the show, but anything to avoid that "thing".

"Why don't we go after the show?" Jane suggested.

"After it?" Annie echoed.

"Sure, it's the last big show, most people go home when it ends and then we can have the Ferris wheel all for ourselves."

"Aunt T will want to go home just like last time."

"No, this time she will stay longer. Right, aunt T?"

"I guess…"

"Great!" "Now we should see what else we have here."

Lisbon suggested the booth games, the best part of the circus in her opinion, or the least worse... There were several games to pick and they spent over an hour trying them all.

Contrary to Lisbon, Jane was exceptional at the ones that required patience, but he was actually good at pretty much all of them. Having that he grow up in the middle of all that, it wasn't really a surprise.

Most times, Jane and Annie were a team against her aunt and Jane soon enough found out the Lisbons were not very good at losing.

"I just like to win." Teresa defended herself.

"Semantics." And for that, Jane got slapped in the arm. He surprised himself when he didn't hide the smile she earned.

Jane realized how much he liked Teresa. She was probably his new crush, like many others.

A fleeting thing without much importance but a fun thing nonetheless. It wasn't rare, every now and then a woman seemed special, a week later not so special anymore.

Pete once told him whatever he felt for the women he found in his way, was simply the need to have what he couldn't, and once he got it he'd lose his interest. Jane wished he could disagree with that.

"Wow you're really not good at this game." Jane teased.

"It's a stupid game," Lisbon dropped the whac a mole mallet. "Where is she?" Lisbon glanced around concerned.

"Annie? Still playing Fishing Pond." Jane pointed at a small group of kids Annie had joined.

"Oh" "She looks to be having fun."

"She is." Jane replying looking at Lisbon smiling at the children. Her eyes were filled tenderness and an innocent happiness it wasn't easy to find.

Reading this woman was his new favorite hobby.

"Would you like to sit somewhere? We have some time before the main show."

"No, I left the best one for last! Come on!" Lisbon answered faster and turned around leaving Annie to her new friends.

Jane loved the company, but hitting moles wasn't exactly how he had hope to spend time with her. He dragged himself, following his new boss to the other side of the corridor.

"Basketball Shoot?" Jane made a face reading the booth's name.

She nodded.

"This is the best game?"

"It's fun!"

"I thought your favorite game would include firearms."

"I'm pretty good at the shoot the star one." She answered excited remembering the last time she had played.

Jane agreed with his head and observed the way she was standing and looking at him. Shyly, biting her lip.

"What?" Lisbon asked smiling, with the same look.

"Any other reason why you like this game?"

"Fine, it also has some good prizes, that's all."

"Good prizes?" He knew precisely what the prizes were yet he made a point to check it once more. "Stuffed animals?"

"It's better than those weird animal balloons from the other booths!"

"So stuff animals is fine but balloons are weird?"

"Can we play?" She asked without much patient.

"Nah, I-I'm skipping this one."

"Come on!"

"Will you teach me how to throw the ball? Hold me by the waist and-"

"Ah, no." Lisbon answered raising an eyebrow disappearing with Jane's smirk. Not that he believed she was ever going to say 'yes'.

"Then I'm out." He leaned against the booth, facing the opposite side and folded his arms over his chest.

"Fine." She shrugged.

"Ahem." From behind the booth a slim man with a bizarre mustache cleaned his throat to call for the couple's attention afraid they would start arguing again.

The look he saw on Lisbon's face made it clear she hadn't even notice he was standing there before.

"How you doin' you old cockroach?" Jane didn't turn to look at the man and his tone held zero enthusiasm.

"Haven't seen you in a while Patty. You should visit your old godfather here every once in a while, you know? It's called good manners."

"I'll remember that."

Lisbon was looking at the keychains hanging from above, paying more attention to their conversation than she would be willing to admit.

"I wonder what your father would think about a Jane fancying a law and order. Things change."

How did everyone there know she was a cop? She huffed out a puff of air irritated but didn't say anything, she wanted to know it this was going somewhere.

"Bet the law and order here would love to hear about your pastimes."

"Calm down, boy. Can't handle a little joke?"

The man answered Jane while staring at Lisbon, getting a disgusted look from her although she tried to hide.

"What can I do for you, miss? It is always a pleasure to be of service to our law enforcement officers."

"I will give it try." She pointed to the basket with her chin with the least friendly face he had ever seen.

"You know the rules, lady?" He kept on talking while reaching for the mini basketballs under the booth's counter. "You get five tries. Five baskets gets you the best prize…"

Lisbon lost herself observing Jane for a second. He was actually distracted now, and not looking away just to irritate her.

It crossed her mind that maybe he was bored. Bored with her.

Lisbon thought about whether he truly had though she was this amazing woman, for no reason at all, after they first met, and now that he got to know her, he was disappointed because whatever he saw wasn't really there.

It could be that he was expecting this to be some kind of date. Probably not.

She tried not to focus on that. The thought that she was boring him made her feel awful and even insufficient. She detested that everybody thought of her as a goody two shoes, and yes, she liked to walk on the line, respecting the law, the privacy of others, but there was nothing wrong with that, she knew how to live, or did she?

It was silly how she reacted to the thought of a man she barely knew being disappointed with her, but it was not the first time she had questioned the way she was leading her life and she didn't want to find proof that she was doing it all wrong and break the illusion she created to protect herself.

Perhaps she just wanted to believe Patrick had thought of her as special; that he saw more to her than she did herself. He wouldn't be the first, but that was the first time it mattered to her. She didn't want him to give up on her so easily.

She turned her look away from Jane. The man behind the booth was placing the 5th ball in front of her, over the counter. He was clumsy; seemed out of place, she was sure being behind game booths was not his usual activity. It all seemed too innocent (if such a thing exist) and that man didn't fit the scenery.

"…two or one, you get a keychain." Lisbon heard the end of the weird looking man's instructions before he held a keychain in front of her eyes. His smile could make children cry. Lisbon flinched away from his hand and reached for the first ball in front of her.

She stole a side-glance at Jane one more time.

The sound of the ball hitting the rim startled the psych from his thoughts. He heard Marcus saying "One!" that meant she had scored.

Lisbon turned to him proudly, it took him a second too long to process what happened, and before he could react he watched the small twinkle in her eyes fade.

He irritated the hell out of her to convince her to let him come along and he couldn't even be a decent companion for the night and the distraction she needed. He parted his lips but the word "sorry" remained in his head.

He finally undid his pose and turned to watch her playing. Although he was looking, he was numbed, and she wouldn't come to him to celebrate again even she had scored, which she didn't.

Lisbon tossed the last ball. She had given up.

Going alone to the circus was not fun at all and between Annie away, playing with her new friends and Jane suddenly forgetting her existence, Lisbon wished she were home.

Jane came back from wherever his mind was. He saw the disappointed look on her face but she didn't turn to him, he had lost her, the little trust she had presented him with.

"One more," Jane said sharply before handling a bill to the man behind the booth. Enough to pay for two games, at least. Lisbon stop looking inside her pockets for the money she owned Marcus and raised her head, surprised at Jane finally saying something.

"I thought you didn't want to play."

"And I won't. Come on, give it another try."

"I'm good, I'll look for Annabeth."

"Teresa, just one more time."

She didn't know whether she loved or hated the way he pronounced her name. Every time she'd hear him saying, her brain would resound it as though listening to it just once wasn't enough.

Lisbon sighted irritated.

"Why are you still here with me?"

"Not this again!"

"I'm seriously, Patrick. I don't need a babysitter, if you're bored just go, you're the one who insisted to follow me around in the first place!"

"And I'll be glad to continue to do so, okay? I'm sorry I ignored you, it had nothing to do with you. Can we please continue with our night?"

She looked unsure.

"Please, Teresa." Jane was nearly pleading.

"You sure Annabeth is fine?"

"Annie is great, I'm sure. Trust me."

"Fine."

"So?" He pointed to the balls over the counter.

"You play, I'll watch." She didn't show any enthusiasm into make amends but she was ready to try.

"No, I owe you this. You play." "I know a few tricks to help you, come on."

She closed the short distance between them and got the basketball from his hand. "Fine. Reveal your secrets, psychic," she teased him.

"No secrets really, the reason you missed it the first time is because you were nervous trying to impress me." He said with a scoff.

"Oh please. Impress you?" She arched her eyebrows in an incredulous expression. "Why would I want to do that?"

"You tell me."

"Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I doubt throwing balls at a basket is the way to do it."

Jane laughed at the way she spoke. So sweet and fierce. She was adorable but that wouldn't be the word to ever describe her out loud.

"You never know." He answered cocky. "I was pretty amazed at how you crushed those poor marmots in the whack a mole."

"Shut up."

It seems he was always looking at her fascinated and she couldn't understand why.

"Here" he moved his arm to touch her back before stopping himself middle way and instead gesturing for her to step forward.

"You're clearly better at this than I am, I don't need to teach you how to throw, I'll just show you a trick to stay calm."

Lisbon waited for him to continue, ignoring rat's face unpleased look at them. That's how she decided to call the man behind the booth.

"Close your eyes."

"Seriously?"

"Come on, just try it."

She closed them.

"Fine." "Now what?"

She felt him shifting places; he was standing behind her now. Nearly touching her, a ghostly presence.

"Slow down, Teresa. Breathe in. Breathe out." His voice was not much louder than a whisper.

"Jane it's just a silly game not a yoga class."

"Shh." He sounded like he was smiling. "You want to win or not?"

Jane didn't care if his excuse was silly as long as it was an excuse to get closer to her.

His breath hit her nape and she shivered.

"All that for me?" Jane asked amused, he was so closed to her his voice caressed her ear.

"All that what?" She'd prefer not to give him any more reasons to be cocky.

He grinned. "Just relax, Teresa"

"Patrick this is getting ridi-"

"Breathe in…" She frowned in irritation at his interruption but did as he asked.

"Breathe out." Jane continued.

He shifted again to stand by her side, locking his eyes with hers. The exchange of looks lasted for a second too long; Lisbon felt her mouth going dry.

"So, hm, that's all?" She broke the silence.

"Ah, no, actually." "I want you to breathe in and throw the ball before breathing out that way you will be more accurate." "The background is there to interfere with your depth perception, you have to try and ignore it, okay?"

"Okay."

And it worked. Teresa didn't miss any of the first 4 shoots.

"Now, be careful, the good man there, overinflated the last ball so it gets nearly impossible to beat his game."

"What? He can't do that!" She said to Jane and then looked angrily at rat's face.

The little man was about to say something in his defense, nothing worth their time Jane was sure so he interrupted Marcus before he could open his mouth.

"Everything here is gaffed- rigged, grasshopper. It's part of the fun, if you're really good you'll do it anyway." Jane ignored the indignant look Lisbon was shooting at him.

"And I will. It obviously doesn't mean this is right!"

"Okay, just go with it, alright?" He handled her the last ball. "Don't let the ball touch the rim or it will bounce back."

"Wow. Bravo, Agent Lisbon!"

"Stop!" She laughed and pushed Jane to the side playful. Contagious as it was, Jane smiled back.

No cockiness, no second intentions, a real smile, one that Lisbon believed in.

He saw her looking down at her hands holding the small bear she had own.

"Disappointed?"

"Hm. No." "But why didn't I win the big one?"

"I guess it's because you won the best prize not the biggest one."

"Isn't the biggest one the best one?"

"Is it?"

"Never mind," she dropped it before he made any innuendos.

"No, let's fix this." He got the little bear from her hand and turned around. "The bigger the better, good to know," Lisbon heard him saying on the way back to the booth as she stood waiting for him.

She watched Jane from afar. She suspected he wanted to come back to the booth without her.

It was a very brief conversation if that's what it was. Jane waited quiet while the creepy man kept on laughing and talking loudly.

When Jane got what he wanted he finally opened his mouth, to say what, Lisbon had no idea but she saw rat's face reaction to it. He appeared to be surprised and then Lisbon saw him gnashing his teeth in anger with horn-mad look.

Patrick ignored him and walked away.

"Wait until you need me, golden boy!"

But the psychic didn't look back.

"Here you go. Annie will love this one."

"Yeah…" she didn't meet his eyes.

"I'm kidding, Teresa."

"She's allergic, if she wasn't I was going to give it to her."

"Right. Do you have many of those? Is it like a collection?"

"No!" She grumbled.

"Bet you name them all and spend hours telling them about your day."

"Oh, you're funny."

"Really, what's the story? There's more to it than a fluffy bear."

"Fine, but it's just a silly story."

"I'm all ears."

"When I was a kid I remember going to the circus and there was this booth full of toys, dolls, and this one huge teddy bear, a lot like this one." She raised the huge toy in front of him. "I played it with my mom but I didn't won, she tried too but she couldn't got the big one, not even back then I cared about teddy bears, I just wanted to win."

"Typical…" he answered teasing.

"Hey! I wanted to give it to my mother. Now I realized it wasn't the best gift to give her but back then…"

Jane apologized with a shy smile.

"Anyway, I was very upset that we couldn't get it but she made me laugh about it, she said we were going to train everyday so the next time the circus was in town we would won every single toy they had on that booth."

Jane seemed genuinely moved.

"To be honesty I didn't remember, or at least I never thought about that day again until today, and when I saw the bear, I don't know, it's a way to keep that memory alive I guess."

"It's a beautiful memory." He added sincerely. "It seems you two were very close, you and your mother."

"We were."

And for the first time Lisbon felt that recalling a memory from her childhood wasn't so much as painful as it was comforting.

"It was just you and her? That day at the carnival I mean."

"No, my father was there with my brothers doing something else. They needed an "only boys' time", whatever that means."

Jane chuckled.

"I loved the little moments alone with my mother. She worked a lot, and when she wasn't working she had to divide her attention between me and my three Brothers." She smiled sadly. "I think I missed being the only child even if I'm only one year older than Stan."

"So you're the oldest of three brothers."

"Yes." "But don't say it like that." She protested.

"Like what?" He was chuckling.

"As if you just figured me out entirely."

"Oh, I wouldn't dare, I'm sure you're a woman of many surprises."

She didn't believe he meant that, and if he did, he wasn't that good at reading people after all.

"But hey, I didn't forgot what I saw back there, what the hell was that?"

"That what?"

"You know, between you and that guy from the booth. That guy was fishy."

"Fishy? That's a way to put it." "Don't worry about that."

"Oh come on what did he say to you?"

"Aren't you the curios one?"

"Well, yeah! The guy was turning red because of whatever you told him! Is he really your godfather?"

"If when you say godfather you think of Vito Corleone than maybe."

Her mouth dropped expecting an explanation.

"You're really not a going to tell me?" It sounded close to a plea, and she became self-aware of the way she behaved around that man. As if, they had been friends from a long time, more actually, but she wouldn't go there. He truly was a fantastic con man if he could make everyone he just met feel like that. She was hoping though, that she was different.

"Perhaps later." Jane answered with a grin that widened when Lisbon growled irritated.

He savored the pleasure of her interest and curiosity on him, besides family wasn't a subject he talked about.

He turned serious again. "And I'm sorry for before, I know you thought I was ignoring but I was just spacing out."

"You looked, I don't know, angry with the world."

"Oh well, I wasn't in a happy place." He smiled sadly.

It took Lisbon a moment to answer.

"I thought you were just irritated because you regretted offering to accompany me for the night."

"Why would I regret that?"

"Because you were bored? You thought," she hesitated, "maybe you thought this was something else."

"I didn't think this was a date, Teresa."

"I didn't mean a date," insecurities hit hard and Lisbon felt embarrassed to let him know she entertained the idea of him wanting a date with her.

"I would understand if you did, it is a logical thing to think,' that made her feel a little better. "But you made clear you have someone and I understood that."

"Okay, but maybe you didn't read me right on the first time we met."

"I read you perfect," he interrupted.

She continued: "Maybe, I am not what you expected, I am a boring goody two-shoes and you thought I was a cool cop or something."

"Cool cop?" Lisbon frowned when he cackled, "Teresa, there's no such a thing as a cool cop."

"You know what I mean! I don't want you being polite all night while you're dying of boredom, that's all."

"All right, just, stop it okay? Where did this come from?"

She shrugged.

"I'm not bored! If you knew me any better you would know if I was bored, or if wasn't enjoying your company I'd have left, probably making it very clear why."

He waited for her answer but she surprised him.

"So where were you?"

"Hum?"

"You said you weren't in your happy place, where were you?"

"Wow that's a way to change the subject." "Just lost in thoughts, Teresa."

"Come on you have to give me something, I told you about my mother."

He debated telling her some sad lie just to make her stop asking, is what he always did to anyone who tried getting information from him.

But he was tired of lying, had being for quite some time actually, and while he felt himself drowning in the immensity of the green oceans of her eyes he felt the only way to save himself was trusting someone to save him, that someone had to be her. It had to.

"It just this feeling I have, I never told anyone it will just make me look like an asshole, more than they already know I am."

"I doubt you can look worse than after the first time we met."

He smiled biting his bottom lip nervously.

"You know this place is full of people like me, Teresa."

"What do you mean?"

Jane sat on a bench where they could see Annie and the kids playing, Lisbon sat by his side, a little too far for his taste.

She had her head turned to the side, watching him while he kept his eyes fixed ahead.

"Conmen and women," Jane started, "Like Marcus and me. People who would strip you off by using your faith and the goodness of your heart." His eyes darkened. "Of course there are a lot of good people here too, Pete is a good example, but many of us are nothing but relentless manipulators."

Lisbon gulped; she felt the cold in his words.

She wanted to tell him he wasn't a bad person, an evil man, but she didn't even knew if that was true.

"Okay, you were angry because you regret what you've done, you were angry at something Marcus did?" It came out as a question.

"No that's not it. I was angry because…" When he had to put it in words it seemed such a nonsense, so silly, he regrated starting that conversation but there was no turning back now.

"Because I was watching all these families happy and enjoying their night and they had no idea. And sometimes I just feel like shaking them and yelling at them that this place is not what they think it is. They just have no idea of who's among them."

A moment of silence passed before Lisbon spoke again.

"I understand that."

"I doubt it."

"No, I do. I love my job, but not all we do is right, and even when our intentions are the best we can prevent all bad things from happening."

"Not being able to save the world is not the same as being a crooked charlatan." He spit the words.

"My point is, when I meet a new agent who's still thinking they're going to become heroes and the world is this perfect place with perfect cops, I feel the same way."

He looked at her doubtful smile.

"What?" She was laughing.

"Well, I don't think that's the same."

"It is!"

"Okay, you're right." He turned to look at her, "Perhaps we're simply envious that they can see the things we adore the same way we used to before life tainted it."

"Perhaps."

They gazed at each other for a little too long until Lisbon looked down.

"Look," Jane took a keychain from his pocket. "The bear is not the only prize you won."

"Oh. It's cute."

"I know you're a dog person…I tried looking for something that reminded me of you, but there weren't many options."

"And what would had remind you of me?"

"Hm, a pony maybe?"

"Why a pony?"

"Oh come on! It was clearly little Teresa's dream."

"It was not," high voice.

"An angry little princess and her little pony fighting crime."

"Shut up!" She elbowed him. "What did you want when you were a kid?"

"To be the angry little princess's prince."

Lisbon looked unimpressed. "What did you really want?"

"You figure that out, and will do or give you anything you want."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"I'll hold you to that promise."


	4. Party

Jane spend the rest of the time they had before the show, showing off his abilities to Lisbon.

He would observe a random circus visitor and tell her everything about their lives and personality, Lisbon was skeptical most of the time, she just couldn't see how one could guess someone was having an affair because of their haircut, or that they had an alcoholic mother based on the way they walked.

And so they found another way to play the psychic's game, she would describe anyone she knew and Jane would do his tricks.

He described all of Lisbon's agents, everything she knew about them, and more.

She was impressed and even more curious to know what was his first impression of her. But there were some things she would rather keep it from him and if he already knew it was better to pretend he didn't, so she played it safe and kept her curiosity to herself.

"It's spook."

"Spook?" Jane laughed.

"And amazing! There's so much you could do with that gift."

"It's not a gift."

"I'm not saying it's a supernatural thing, Patrick, it's still incredible. We could use someone like you in the CBI."

He side glanced her.

"Fine but if you ever change your mind."

"Trust me, I won't."

Lisbon propped her elbows on her knees imitating Jane's position.

"You know what I think it's weird?"

"That you're still carrying that huge bear around?"

"No," she chuckled, "that you never tried to convince me that you were a real psychic."

He frowned, "wow if really think that than I did a terrible job!"

"But it's true!"

"You watched my show, remember?"

"Of course, but I'm talking about afterwards. You told me you were just good at observing people, you never tried to con me."

"I'm a little tired of the con act," he was sincere.

"Then why are still doing this?"

"I don't know. It's what I do best."

Before Lisbon could answer, he got up: "We should go, show's about to start."

It took her a second to comprehend the blunt change of subject."Oh, okay,"

"Get Annie I'll take this thing," he held her bear, "to my tend."

The show was marvelous. Annie loved Daisy the elephant and her presentation.

Jane reassured Lisbon telling her that Pete treated that animal better than he treated his wife, and guaranteed his wife couldn't ask for a better partner. Also that Daisy had her own schedule, she worked when she was in the mood, which drove the circus workers crazy but no one would go against Pete's favorite.

"Can we finally go to the roller coaster?" Annie asked her aunt in exasperation while they stood in the back of main tend watching the public leave.

"We do have one more thing before that."

"We do?" Lisbon questioned Jane.

"Well," they stopped to see Annie running towards Pete. "Last time we met," Jane continued, "didn't I tell you that there would be a party here today?

"Yes, I thought you were talking about how the circus would be agitated or something like that."

"It's my friend's birthday, actually. Pete's wife." Lisbon looked unsure of what he was implying. "You're coming, right?" He confirmed it.

"M-me? But I don't know her."

"You'll be my company. And you know Pete."

"Sorry, Patrick, I can't."

"Why not?" She wanted to tell him how ridiculous that sound and how it clearly sounded like a date. But she didn't. "Let's extend the night a little bit. What's the hurry?"

"I have to get Annie back. This doesn't make any sense, I don't know anyone, and you made it clear no one here likes cops."

"But they will," he paused before awkwardly adding, "I do." "I know Annie doesn't have school tomorrow, it wouldn't do her any harm to be a little late for bed."

Lisbon smiled watching her niece jumping up and down around Pete.

"Is… Is your fiancée waiting for you?" It sting a little to ask her that.

"No, he's working the whole night."

"So why not? You know you want to. Dance a little, eat some cake."

"Dance?"

"I'm an excellent dancer."

"Of course you are." She quipped crinkling her nose.

"You can see it for yourself." Jane provoked but Lisbon didn't answer. "Okay here's the one thing that will make up your mind."

"I doubt it."

"If we go to the party Annie will be so tired at the end, that she will want to skip the roller coaster."

"What if she doesn't?" Lisbon asked raising her eyebrow.

"I'll hypnotize her if you want, woman. Come on!"

"Argh, fine."

"Now that's the spirit!"

"But if anyone calls me law and order again I'll send them all to jail."

"Oh they will love that attitude."

It was a small place, where the public didn't have access and the circus workers parked their trailers.

Lisbon could see the lights and a large group of people dancing. The music was not so loud but animated.

Past the tents, she could see it more clearly.

An old canvas was being used as a roof to protect a few chairs and tables, little white bulbs strung around the wooden pillars holding the coarse material. People drank and laughed loudly while setting their tables together completing the warm familiar set with a holiday vibe.

The image brought a nostalgic smile to Lisbon's lips.

Couples and young groups of friends danced outside in the grass, underneath the starlight sky while the kids played running around them. She saw her niece among the children, she looked so carefree, different from the quiet girl she had been during the last week.

Lisbon stood quiet by Jane's side, studying the place.

In the porch, everyone around them greeted the psychic with big smiles. Mostly women. They were all touchy and didn't bother including Lisbon in the conversation when they leaned in Patrick's ear to whisper whatever cheap line they had to get his attention, maybe more than that. It didn't appear to take much. At least that's how it looked like to Lisbon.

She felt that was incredible rude, it's not like she had anything with Patrick but they didn't know that. The audacity. Jane didn't bother concealing the arrogant grin watching the look Lisbon was shooting the young ladies that came to him.

"She was just saying hi."

"Sure."

After complimenting everybody Lisbon chose a table and waited for Jane, he came back with beer and a plate with fruits.

He set everything in front of her and before he could sit, Pete was there looking nervously at the cop.

"Where's Sam?" Jane asked holding his friend shoulder.

"Getting read. You know her."

"Yes, I do."

"Patty," Pete looked at Lisbon and hesitated, "you sure this will be fine, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, as long as she doesn't get mad at me."

"She won't, big man. Relax."

"What are you guys talking about?" Lisbon looked up at the two man whispering beside her chair.

"Nothing, don't worry. Sometimes Pete confuses his wife with a three headed dragon."

"And why would Pete's wife be made at him?"

"She won't'."

"Pete?"

"It's just, she doesn't really like... you know. Cops."

Jane rolled his eyes at Pete.

"It seems no one here does. But Patrick promised she would be okay with it." Lisbon was about to get very angry with the blond liar.

"She will," Jane sat down and proceeded to eat, not interested or worried about the conversation.

Pete left wishing a pleasant night for both.

"If you get me in trouble I swear-"

"Teresa, please, trust me. I would never bring you a place where you wouldn't be welcome."

"You sure?"

"Tonight you're not a cop you're a guest, we treat our guests as family."

The word family reminded her something "Is your godfather around?"

"He would never come to a thing like this."

She glanced at him inquisitively and proceeded to eat the grapes in the plate.

"Here she is!" A man yelled followed by cheering. Lisbon and Jane turned to see Pete accompanied by his wife.

Jane waited for small group of friends to greet them before approaching.

"Sam!" He gave her a long hug.

Lisbon watched them from afar; it surprised her how genuinely happy Jane was.

He whispered in Sam's ear while looking at Pete with his mocking smile.

"You don't want me angry on my birthday, Patty!"

Sam laughed and pushed him away.

"Oh, about that-" He turned around and beckoned to Lisbon to join them.

'About that?' What was he implying? Lisbon got up and approached them wishing she could kick Jane's perfect ass right there!

"Be nice, Sam!" Lisbon heard Jane saying on her way to meet them.

"When am I not?" The woman answered sarcastically.

"Sam, this is my friend Teresa. Teresa this is Sam."

"So it is true, your lady friend is a Stormtrooper." The little fierce woman had her arms folded in her chest. Not very friendly Lisbon noted.

"How does everybody know that?"

"Oh please, it's like a police station threw up on you!" "So, what are you? FBI?"

"CBI, actually."

"Never heard of."

"Sam, you promised."

"Calm down, Patty, I'm just getting to know your friend."

"Enjoy the party, Teresa. Be careful with this one, hum."

"I will."

"Annie is your niece, right?"

"You know her?"

"Pete took her to our trailer before bringing her here. Such a sweet girl."

"Yeah, she is."

"So, Patty," She turned her attention back to Jane, "about my dance? Do you mind, Teresa?"

Lisbon felt incredible uncomfortable having that question directed at her. It wasn't her business who Jane danced with. "Ah, no, all yours"

Pete stared Lisbon awkwardly. "I- hm, do you want to dance, Miss Lisbon?"

"Sure, Pete."

"Really? A cop?"

Jane laughed, but it was hard to pretend that wasn't weird for him too. "Don't start, Sam."

"OMG Patrick Jane are a little embarrassed?" Damn that woman really knew him. "I don't think I've ever seen you shy before! Well except that one time or better two times I caught you-"

He twirled Sam around to stop her from talking.

"Are you done?

Sam waited to recompose herself. "Okay, but what is she?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Patty. Is not like you to bring girls to one of our parties. You hardly ever know their names."

"It's not like that, she's a friend."

"Just friends?"

"Yes, Sam."

"And you don't see how that's weird?"

"A woman and man being friends?" He knew that wasn't what Sam meant.

"You and a woman being friends."

"That's not true, Sam! And it makes me sound so bad."

"Honestly at this point you becoming friends with anyone, man or woman it's quite surprising."

"Ouch!"

"You know what I mean. There's a reason I've been worried about you."

"Sam, don't start. I'm fine and I can take care of myself."

"Okay, just friends. I guess she won't be spending the night then?"

"She has a fiancee."

"Oh," Sam's face fell, "that's tragic."

"It's not tragic."

"I can't believe Pete left that part out!" She said it to herself.

Jane rolled his eyes.

He watched Lisbon dancing and followed her moves with a silly smile that wouldn't leave his lips anytime soon. Sam hadn't seem he look like that to anyone in a long time.

"You're right, you're just fine." Sam whispered in a trick smile Jane didn't really understood. "Thank you for the dance, Patrick."

"My pleasure, Sam." He kissed her cheek before offering her hand to Pete.

Lisbon walked back to her table with Jane's hand on her back.

"So? how's Sam?" He murmured right after leaving the dancing area.

"I'm a little scared of her."

Jane laughed, "don't worry she is just as scared of you as you are of her. Try giving her your hand for her to smell."

She elbowed him in stomach.

"Next time could you do that on the other side? This one is already sore."

"Hm." He took a sip of his beer looking incredulous at her. "But you love your job that's obviously enough. It certainly suits you."

"It suits me?" She smiled sadly looking down at empty cup in her hands.

Any other week that would have been a compliment but lately every time someone mentioned her profession it sounded like they were saying that's all she was. She was proud of being a cop, but she wanted to be so much more than that.

"I love my job, but some days are tougher than others. Most times it's… frustrating."

"I can imagine. I'm not a big fan of the system myself."

"No kidding." The little obvious remark made her laugh. "It has its flaws, but it's worth fighting for it."

"If you say so."

It took a moment for Jane to notice Lisbon had been sheepishly looking at him for some time.

"You want another beer?"

"I'm good." She continued to gaze. "Are you ever going to ask me for a dance?"

"Oh." He exclaimed surprised.

"You did say you were excellent dancer."

"I believe I did."

"So?"

He got up and extended his hand. "Shall we?"

The dance was fast and full of twirling around, sometimes they'd bump into another couple in the small space but it was beautiful how in sync they they were. Some couples even stopped dancing to watch, although Jane was glad Lisbon didn't noticed.

At some point, with an exchange of looks, they made a mutual agreement to ignore how they should dance and started to make their own steps, somehow it worked.

He was fascinated watching Lisbon genuinely happy. She was radiant! For the first time that night, even if just for a few minutes, he could see her laughing without her worries creating a shadow over her smile.

"What's going on there?" Sam asked her husband watching her friend dancing with the brunette.

"Don't look at me."

"Our boy is in enchanted by the lady cop, Pete! Of all the women in the world!" She crossed her arms and huffed. "I hope he doesn't screw it up!"

"What?"

Sam just side-glanced Pete, ignoring his confusion.

"You're really good!" Jane said close to Lisbon's ear.

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

A smile grew across his face, "is it possible to compliment you, woman?"

He let go of her hand and walked to the closest chair, she followed him.

"Tired already?" He was tired. Dead tired. But he would ignore that until his feet started to bleed.

He took off his suit jacket, put it over the chair and ran his fingers through his hair before rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

Lisbon was about to thank him when she realized thanking someone for showing their arms was not a normal thing to do. But she couldn't help but stare at his body.

Contrary to the other day in which he was oozing the charlatan air with the cheap tailored suit, big golden watch, and all strands of hair in place, now he looked a lot more care free, the rolled up sleeves showing the muscles on his arms and the messy curls was a very pleasant view. Right now, she couldn't imagine a better looking man, more charming or sexy.

Jane gestured for them to walk back and Lisbon went ahead.

The current song ended and the first slow one of the night started.

Jane held Lisbon closer, his arm tight against her waist.

"I am sorry" He blew inside his shirt.

"For what?" she asked tucking her head in the space between his neck and shoulder.

"I'm all sweat!"

"Patrick the psych is human after all," she mumbled as if the song had taken all the energy of her body.

"Guess I am." under his breath

Jane couldn't see anyone else, it was just him and Teresa and that slow song.

Teresa was so soft and her smell was like water to a man on a desert. But what was killing him was how she trusted him, how safe she looked pressed against his body. Until she wasn't anymore.

She raised her head and took a step back. He knew what he was seeing in her expression. Guilt. The veil separating that night from her life was not that anymore.

If she wasn't going to say anything he had to, before things got weird between them.

Jane sighted and reluctantly took the courage to ask: "Do you want to take a break?"

"Yes," she agreed and dropped his hand looking relived she wasn't so close to him anymore.

On their way back to their table Lisbon's phone rang, she didn't need to say anything when she left.

Jane sat back feeling frustrated and rejected. He wondered what she would tell the man on the other side of the line. She wouldn't lie that he was certain about it, but what tone would she use? It was all about the tone.

Would her fiancee laugh when she told him she was dancing 80's songs with a fake psychic that worker on the circus?

Would he imagine Jane was a fat old man who could barely move?

She wouldn't tell her fiancee that their bodies were so closed to each other that they could feel each other's heart beating.

She wouldn't tell him that Jane's hand kept brushing her fingers or that hers, involuntarily, caressed his back the whole time.

Most importantly, she wouldn't tell the man that for a moment that night she for forgot all about him, and anyone else in the world, and in that instant the pretend psychic was all she wanted.

Except she didn't, why would she? He was just a moment of fun in her stressed life. Nothing else.

Lisbon came back with a much better expression. It was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. It was obvious, she told the man about her night and he laughed it out, Lisbon convinced herself she was seeing too much into nothing. And she probably was.

"What happened to you?"

"What?"

"You don't look good."

Jane hadn't realized he was brooding, he was clenching his jaw and his body looked tense.

He hadn't the right to feel bad, and he wouldn't. He remembered Pete's words, he just wanted her because he couldn't have, it was nothing more than that, but this time he wouldn't do anything about it, he wouldn't ruin her life over his whims.

So he sat up straight and smiled "It's nothing."

Nearly two hours passed. All Jane and Lisbon did was talk, about literally everything except maybe their pasts and Lisbon's current relationship.

It was fascinating how Jane's mind worked. He was easily one of the smartest person Lisbon had met and in every subject she could think of. She was surprised though and even amused at his zero knowledge in computers and cell phones.

"These kids, were they all born here?" Lisbon asked after watching Annie and her new friends playing.

"Yes, why?"

"I never really thought about that. Must be an interesting childhood."

"It is."

"You were born in the circus too?"

"Ah, yes, I was."

"Were you home schooled?"

"Uhh, that's usually what happens but my father wasn't exactly someone who valued school education, he was more of a street smart kind of guy. After I learned how to read I put my hands on lots of books to keep up."

She was impressed but there was also pity in her look, he hated that.

"Did you have a show when you were a kid?"

"Yes. The "Boy Wonder" He answered serious.

Lisbon grined, "Boy Wonder?"

"I didn't chose it."

"So you're good with the cold reading thing since then?"

"Yes. Used to be better at picking pockets though, the little hands facilitate." He said over his beer, a smile grew watching Lisbon shocked expression.

"You what?"

"Haven't done in a long while, I'm sure the statute of limitations on my crimes have expired, agent Lisbon."

"I can't believe you used to pick pockets!"

"I never stole anything; I got their wallets for information, age, picture of their kids and anything I could use on the show."

"hm."

"Is that a little better?"

"Well, it's a little less bad, I guess. But not much."

She went back to watch the kids while processing what Jane just told her.

"Look at Annie, she's dead tired but she won't stop."

"Kids are like that."

"I wish that was all…"

"I know."

She turned to him, "you do know don't you? you even know she's changing schools. How?"

He ignored her question. "Teresa, she's going to be fine."

"I know," she held her head between her hands, "but she's just a kid, she shouldn't be trying to run away from her life."

"You had it a lot worse and you're here, right? She avoided his eyes. "Parents get divorce all the time, it's tough but if she's half as strong as her aunt, she'll be okay."

Lisbon forced a smile.

Jane gestured for Annie to come close to their table, she wasn't happy about it but she did.

"Annie we should go it's late." Lisbon tried convincing her niece when she approached their table.

"No, I don't want to go." The little girl looked at Jane for support; she sounded weepy and was clearly exhausted.

Lisbon sighted. She didn't want to be the responsible aunt, not that night. Annie was moving to a different state with her mother, who knew when they would see each other again?

"That's okay I didn't call you here for that." Jane gently pushed the girl by the arm, "come here for a second," she sat down on his knee and started to play with the empty cups over the table.

"I called you here because I wanted to make you a question." He grinned at Lisbon on the other side of the table, "what do you think of your auntie's boyfriend?"

"Don't start."

"Let the girl answer."

"He's not her boyfriend his her fiancée."

Lisbon raised her eyebrows at him with a smirk.

"Okay, but do you like him?"

"He is… nice" The girl was now interested and curious on the conversation.

"Like me?"

"No, stop that, don't do that her."

"Let your niece talk, woman."

Lisbon watched as Jane served Annie the fruits on a plate over the table and the little girl without even noticing started to eat them.

"You can say the truth, right?" He looked at Lisbon for confirmation.

"That's okay sweetie, what do you think of Vincent?" she was rather amused with that conversation.

"Vincent?" Jane echoed. "Really? You crossed me off your to do list for a Vincent?"

"Shush!" Lisbon threw a paper napkin at him.

"He's boring." Annie finally said.

"Ha!"

"Of course she's going to say he's boring compared to you! You brought her to a party and you work on a circus!" Lisbon tried not to laugh, "that's an unfair comparison!"

"Hey, it's not our fault" Jane gesture to him and Annie, "if Vincent it's so boring."

Lisbon rolled her eyes and Annabeth couldn't stop giggling.

Jane proceeded to ask Annie about the new school she was going to start next week and he even made her excited about moving to a new city. A few minutes later and she was out, her head resting on her little arms folded over the table. The music and people talking didn't seem to bother her.

"She's out." Jane mouthed to Lisbon.

She looked tenderly at the familiar picture in front of her.

"You're very good at this."

"I told you, kids love me." Jane joked.

"Or maybe you just tired her out with all your boredom."

He looked surprised with her witty comeback.

"Maybe you should get one of your own." Lisbon didn't know why she said that, especially that way, while looking at him like that…

Jane had his head down while looking up at her; it was both uncommonly sexy and captivating. "Someday." he answered softly, "First I need to find someone. Someone like you I hope."

Lisbon watched Annie drooling on Jane's shoulder as he carried the little girl back to her car.

"How's she dealing with the separation?" Jane asked when he noticed Lisbon was uncomfortable with the silence.

"My brother and her mother always had their issues, it wasn't news but it's hard. She's just a kid, she loves her father and she can't understand why she can hardly ever see him."

"At least she has a loving father."

"She does. Tommy has his problems but he's doing his best." "Thank you for the night by the way. Annie loved it and she really needed this. You really are great with kids."

He looked proud of himself. Not for being good with Annie, but for earning a compliment from Teresa.

The more he knew about this woman the more he wanted know. He was still learning the meaning behind every look she gave him and every smile that escaped from her lips. She was a fascinating object of study. A dangerous one.

He had to stop acting like he could win her over. Had to stop flirting with her and wishing he was touching her skin. She deserved better than him.

"What about you?"

"I had a great time." Lisbon beamed at him. "Sam even hugged me on the way out."

"Oh bet she only did that to whisper something about me on your ear.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"I can find out." He grinned; the cold breeze fussing his hair.

They reached Lisbon car and Jane sat Annie on the back seat, fastened her seat belt and closed the door.

He stood by the side of the door gawking at Lisbon. It was hard to stop.

"What?"

"Nothing, just admiring."

She turned red, damn him. "Well, I have to go."

"Will I see you again?"

"Maybe next year when you come back?"

"I sincerely hope it won't take that long."

Lisbon didn't know what to answer, or rather she didn't want to put into words the first thought that crossed her mind. She hoped he hadn't see it in her eyes.

"Goodbye, Patrick." It felt strange to just leave, a hug or a kiss on the cheek seemed much worse, so she offered him her hand, which only made the moment more awkward than she thought it was possible.

Jane grinned incredulous but shook her hands. He held it when she tried to pull back, stepped closer and kissed her fingers.

Lisbon snorted and Jane seemed satisfied with her reaction.

"Really?" Lisbon pulled her hand back.

"Shake hands, really?" He used the same tone she did.

Lisbon smiled nervously and bit her lip.

"I need to go."

"Have a good life Teresa. I'm glad I had the chance to meet you."

Jane watched as her car left.

Lisbon would spend that night wide-awake.


	5. There she was again

There she was again. She finally turned off the engine, and stepped outside.

If Lisbon was forced to be sincere with herself about the reason she was so nervous for being there, she would have to analyse why that man had such an effect on her.

She would have to admit that when she closed her eyes she could still picture his smile and golden hair. And worse of it all, admit that there was too much wrong with her life if she felt that way about a stranger but nothing for the man she was engaged to.

Luckily, no one was forcing her to be sincere, and if lying to Jane was nearly impossible, lying to herself was what she had done for most of her life.

Work brought her there, was what she told herself. He could refuse to help her and he probably would, that would make the case she was working on much harder to close and that's what she blamed her nervousness on.

She hoped not to find Pete or Sam around there, she didn't want to have to explain herself to them.

Many of the circus people were working on the tends and equipment used in presentations. Fortunately, she didn't recognize any of them, they on the other hand seemed to be very aware of her presence and who she was.

Lisbon ignored the curious looks she was getting and headed to the trailers area where she imagined Jane would be. On her way, she asked an old man for directions and he specified where the psychic was, but not before laughing, "luck bastard" she heard him saying once she turned her back to him.

She walked fast and knocked twice without thinking, afraid of giving up if she stopped for a second.

On the other side of the door, Lisbon heard a strident giggle; she could swear it was the most annoying noise she had ever heard and immediately regret not turning away before.

She considered disappearing; maybe they hadn't heard her, but when she was about to turn away the door opened.

Jane closed his eyes against the sunlight he was obviously seeing for the first time that day. He looked ridiculously good with his messy hair and a rumpled blue shirt.

He stretched his arms above his head letting out an irritated groan while giving Lisbon a glimpse of his long V lines.

When his eyes were able to focus and recognize Lisbon, his irritated expression immediately changed to incredulous surprised.

Beaming at her he got down the step to stand in front of her. A frown formed on his face while he wondered if he was the reason her cheeks were flushed.

"I was hoping I'd see you again." His voiced sounded husky and he wore the brightest smile. "But I honestly didn't thought I would, or should."

That was a lot more than Lisbon was expecting from his first sentence to her that day.

If only the source of the annoying giggling hadn't showed up behind him. "Hey!" the woman joined them and grabbed one of Jane's arms.

"Sorry, I didn't know you had visit." Lisbon couldn't hide her annoyance.

He freed himself from the blond and put his arm around Lisbon's shoulders turning to face the woman. "I'm sorry love; my sister here requirements my assistance. We will have to talk later."

"Oh, okay.'' She looked so terribly disappointed Lisbon almost felt sorry for her. Almost. "Will you call me later then?"

"Ah, yeah, sure."

She surprised Jane with an awkward peck on the lips. "I'll wait."

Jane waited until she was far away to look at Lisbon again. He put his hands on his pockets as if he wasn't sure of what to do with them. "So… you wanted to talk?" He smiled embarrassed.

"Sister?"

"Well..."

"It's 1 PM, are you two animals?"

He smirked and shrugged. "Well, it was pretty wild in there."

"Then I guess I should leave. I don't want to spoil your fun." She smiled sarcastically.

"Well, you kind of already did." He was too amused to realize that was a little too much.

Lisbon stood quiet deciding if she should just walk away.

"Teresa, I'm sorry, I was kidding." He said while laughing which only irritated her more. "You know I actually love that you're jealous of me."

"I'm not jealous of you!"

"Then why are you so irritated?"

"Because I just realized this is not going to work, I came here for nothing. You can't help me."

Jane pushed lightly on the sleeve of her pantsuit. "You need my help?" He asked, serious this time.

"It's no big deal. You've made it clear that you don't like the police and you'd never work for the cbi, I just thought maybe I could convince you to help but…" she trailed off.

"And you could, in fact you just did you're a very persuasive woman."

She looked at him, her eyes semi-closed in an angry squint.

"I can help you, Teresa." She stared undecided, "and I didn't even sleep with that woman."

"Well, I know that."

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. I didn't had sex with her."

"Yeah, right."

"Well it's true."

"I don't care."

"Okay."

"And you don't own me any explanation."

"I really don't. I simply wanted you to know."

"Why?" The question was obviously pointless.

He sighed heavily. "I don't know, woman. In case someone asks I guess."

"What?" Lisbon asked while being pushed inside his trailer only realizing when she was already inside. He closed the door behind her and pointed to his bed.

"Sit. Make yourself at home."

Lisbon looked unsure if it was safe to touch anything in there.

"It's all clean, Teresa."

"Fine." She finally sat.

Jane opened a drawer and searched for clothes.

"So what is this you need my help with?" He asked looking over his shoulder.

"I brought you the case files."

He looked down at her hand holding a yellow folder in front of him. "I'd rather hear it from you."

"The son of Santa Monica's mayor was found dead this morning; local police didn't seem prepared to handle the case so they called us."

"Alright," he said in a tone encouraging her to continue.

"Darren Matthews, found inside the truck of his own car." She held a picture of a young man.

A shiver passed through him, "and how can I- I mean, I know I offered you my help yet I wasn't precisely considering this when I did."

"I just need you to talk to his father, see if his lying."

"Do you think he did it?"

"No. I don't know, but he's the mayor, if it was him we need to get to him as soon as possible."

"Hm."

"You'll receive a good check at the end for your services as a consultant."

He laughed mocking making his curls dancing.

"Really Teresa? A check?" He turned to face her. "I'll do this for you, as a favor, you know that very well."

"Thank you," she said sincerely with a smile. "Doesn't mean you can't accept the check though."

"You want me to accept it because that would mean you get to boss me around, you gives you the control."

"No, it's not that!"

"High voice."

"I just think that if you're helping, you deserve it."

"I don't need it, you'd be surprised with how much a pretended psychic makes." He smile charmingly and turned his back to her.

"I can guess." She rolled her eyes.

"But I'll accept it if you let me spend with you."

"With me?" She laughed worried. "Doing what?"

"I'm not sure yet. It's take it or leave it."

She sighted but relentless agreed, "fine."

He closed the drawer and turned to look at her with his bright shiny smile.

Lisbon frowned at the sight of the clothes in his hands. "What are you doing?"

"I need a shower but keep talking, I can hear you."

He walked a few steps and entered the bathroom. She heard him stripping off his clothes and felt her face burning.

"The door is half open, stay on that side if you don't want to see anything that will make you blush." She could hear the smirk in his tone.

She heard the shower turn on and occupied herself with the files in her hands to avoid forming any images on her mind.

"Will I have to go to the CBI with you?" he shout over the sound of the water falling.

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Well, I have a reputation, if anybody asks you forced me."

"I can use my handcuffs to make it more believable." She provoked.

"No, it's fine; I think your word will be enough."

Just a couple of minutes later and she heard the water turn off.

"So, how's… Vince?" Jane asked while dressing himself.

"Fine, Patrick. Just as good as your girl."

"My girl?"

"You know, blonde, short, thinks I'm your sister."

"Oh yeah, that one."

"What was she doing here if she didn't sleep with you?"

Jane left the bathroom and stood in front of her with a scoff. "I thought you didn't care."

He forgot he wasn't fully dressed and worked quickly to close the buttons of his shirt.

Lisbon watched water droplets run down his broad chest and stomach; her mouth half open and the dilated pupils had been more than enough for him to get a glimpse of what was going on inside her head making him smile sheepishly.

"I don't, I'm just curious." Lisbon answered with her best casual tone.

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"It also cured Polio," she added.

"it did," he shook his head surprised with her answer and turned his back to open a the small closet where he kept his suits.

"Where's my bear?"

Jane chuckled, "still in my tend, it didn't fit in here."

"Thanks for keeping it; I'll get it on the way out."

After losing a moment watching Jane's back while he chose his suit, Lisbon inspect the small place where he lived, aside from the bed and a teacup over his book collection, everything seemed to be in place. There wasn't much to make a mess either way. Her eyes quickly wondered through the little objects he had over his dresser suddenly focusing on something shine in between the accessories Jane wore to get fully into the psychic part.

"A wedding ring?" She got up and got it between her fingers.

"Best way to gain a woman's trust." Jane answered without looking.

"Seriously? You bought a wedding ring to get over on women?"

"No," he closed the space between them and took the ring from her fingers. "I bought this because…because I thought I was going to need it. However I didn't so why let it go to waste?" He placed it back and turned away.

Lisbon thought it was better not to ask, not right now anyway.

She was still looking at his ring when his voice woke her from her thoughts

"So, how do I look?"

Much to her satisfaction, he looked like Patrick Jane, not at all like the psychic.


	6. Solid Police Work

After an awkward ride, Lisbon parked in front of a small yellow house.

"Is this your place?" Jane put his head off the window to see it better, "it's nice."

"I'll just leave the bear here. I don't want anyone looking funny at me while I park."

Lisbon got off and opened the door to the back seat, while she tried to pull the teddy bear out, she heard Jane unbuckling himself.

"What are you doing?"

"Hm, nothing?"

"Stay there, you're not getting in."

"So receptive."

"I mean it."

She managed to take the bear out and carry it to her porch. She patted her pockets but they were empty, she heard the sound of keys clanking together and looked back at the car, Jane had her keys twirling around his finger outside the car window while he dug through her phone.

Lisbon strode back to the car and tried to snap the keys away from him but he was faster.

"Why can't I get inside your house? I'm just curious"

"And I'm in a hurry. My keys. Now." She demanded but that didn't seem to affect Jane at all, he was in the mood to piss off someone.

"Such a hurry that I can't even give a quickly look around?"

She cursed under her breath. "I promise a full tour after we solve the case," she used her fakest smile.

"Hmm."

Jane held the keys up and Lisbon snapped it away

Lisbon groaned and went back to her porch.

When she came back, he was still on her phone.

"I can't believe you stole my keys. You're worse than a child."

"You're so afraid I'll mess this up why not live up to your expectations?"

"Don't be an asshole."

"No, I'm serious, why did you ask for my help if you can't trust me?"

"I do."

"Teresa your tension on the way here was enough to tire both of us out."

"That's not the rea-" she stopped herself and ran her fingers through her hair.

"You shouldn't have asked for my help if this is how this is going to be."

"I know, I'm sorry," she sighed frustrated, "It's not personal, I've told you how this position is new to me, I'm not used to being the boss and if you mess up… I don't want my decision to bring you into this case - someone with no experience - to prove that I have no idea of what I'm doing."

Jane felt guilty; maybe he wasn't taking the situation seriously enough considering she treated her job as the most important part of her life.

But it bother him how she didn't trust him, to a point he could not comprehend

"Teresa, you're fine, you've earned your position. And I'm not going to disappoint you, you can count on me."

Lisbon nodded and took a deep breath. "You're right," she answered gently.

She was about to turn the engine on but stopped half way. "What the hell are you doing with my phone?"

"Oh, nothing."

Her brow furrowed, just one line between her eyebrows, he took note.

"Just observing. One would expect you to have pictures of your fiancée."

"One should know not to touch my stuff. Are you aware of the concept of privacy?"

"Of course, cops are the ones constantly forgetting it."

"I thought you were bad with cellphones."

"Horrible, but I'm not doing any fancy work here, I saw a little camera I figured that's where your pictures were."

"My password?"

"Your badge number? Really?"

She took her phone back and drove off.

…

"Boss." Jane and Lisbon heard the agent over the speakerphone.

"Oh so you're boss, hm?" Jane teased Lisbon.

"Shh!"

"Who's...that?" The agent asked over the phone.

"Cho, I'm heading to the Tony Vazquez's house and I'm taking someone with me, I think he can help with this case, I'll explain later. You get Rigsby and go to the victim's apartment, I'll meet you there."

"Okay," her agent hung up.

"You said you'd be quiet."

"Sorry, boss." Jane had the biggest grin.

"Now promise you won't piss off this guy, he can make my life miserable!"

"I promise I'll give it a valiant effort."

Lisbon glared him from her seat.

"Oh come on you know you can count on me." His mischievous grin didn't looked exactly reliable.

"No doubt."

They entered the mansion being greeted by a young woman dressed in expensive clothes and high heels who seemed to be trying too hard to fit that appearance. She presented herself as Emma, the mayor's assistant.

Jane made sure to shake Emma's hand before she took him and Lisbon to an office where they could wait for the mayor. He watched her back for so long when she left the room, Lisbon wasn't sure of what to make of that sudden interest.

While Lisbon found a place to seat, Jane was making sure to leave his fingerprints all over the place.

"Can you just sit down and wait?"

"You called me here to consult, I'm doing just that."

"And what exactly have you learned so far?"

"Hm," Jane rocked forwards and backwards, heel to toe. "He is not a violent man, ambitious, a bit of a dreamer, would go far to get what he wants but I don't think he would kill his son."

"Oh really?" She snorted, "And you got all that from a painting and a few books?"

"Oh, one more thing, he's the type of guy that says he loves classical music but he really loves country."

"Yeah, right." She continued to mock.

"Houses tell a lot about the people that live in it. That's why I wanted to see yours."

"And what exactly did you expect to find?"

"Well, I hn- I'm not sure."

"You can do better than that."

"Okay, you really wanna know?"

She shrugged.

"Hm, I'm guessing you'd love to have a dog, but you don't have the time, and you don't want that kind of commitment so you got a plant instead, it gives you a comfortable feeling that you care for the place and you're not there just temporality, it's the first thing you see when you enter your house."

"So I have a plant. Impressive."

"It's funny actually, you don't want a commitment with a dog because it'd be too much, but your boyfriend was so low maintenance you agreed on an engagement.

Lisbon looked furious at him but the best she could do there was to whisper curses at him, so before she could start he continued with his observations.

"You don't have anything personal decorating your living room, maybe a picture of your family and a painting you received from a secret Santa but nothing you bought yourself." "Lots of books you haven't read yet and hardly will. Old action movies DVDs and some romance ones too that you hide behind the TV. A few CDs you listen to while dancing in your underwear whenever you have free time-"

"I don't do that," Lisbon blushed.

"A table, so you can watch TV while eating and avoid awkward conversations, oh and of course, a picture of you and your fiancée. He was the one that got it framed and gave it to you."

"You're way off."

"Are you sure? I can describe your room too if you want."

She smiled sarcastically, "'I'm good, thanks."

"Agents." The voice came from the man standing on the doorway, interrupting Jane.

Lisbon got up, "Sir, I'm Teresa Lisbon with the CBI. This is our consultant Patrick Jane."

"Hi" Jane offered his hand, grasping the older man's in a strong grip, "did you kill your son?"

"Excuse me?!"

"What? Patrick!"

"Did you? It's a very simple question."

"No I didn't- what is the meaning of this?" the incisive man pushed his hand back away from Jane's hold. "I knew I shouldn't let the federals get involved, our local police is perfectly capable of handling this without this ridiculous treatment!"

"I'm sorry sir; he's new to this job."

"So you didn't want the CBI involved?" Jane asked calmly staring deep into the man's eyes, it's like he was in another world, not in the same tumultuous minute Lisbon and the mayor were sharing. "If it was my son I know I would want the best to solve the murder, unless, I didn't want it to be solved at all."

"Jane!" Lisbon repressed her consultant in a surly whisper.

"Who do you think you are? You came into my house to insult me?"

"I'm just asking you a question."

"Get out of here! Now!"

"No need to get so worked up."

Lisbon got in between the two man.

"Okay sir, he will leave, but I still need to talk to you." She touched Jane's arm and pointed to the door. "Jane wait outside."

The psychic left seemingly satisfied with what he saw.

….

"Hmmm these are delicious!"

"Thank you, Mr. Jane."

"Oh Patrick is fine." Tony Vazquez's housekeeper said charmed. Jane put another cook in his mouth and closed his eyes in pleasure. "Come on Delores, what's your secret?"

The woman leaned over the counter and started to whisper.

Lisbon busted out of the mayor's office. "Jane, now!"

"But-"

"Now!"

She walked out of the door; Jane got a few cookies in his hands and waved Delores 'goodbye' before rushing to follow Teresa.

"I'm 'Jane' now?" He was walking fast trying to keep up with her without losing his cool act.

"We're working together; we need to act as such."

"Alright, boss."

She ignored his sarcasm. "So?"

"What?"

Lisbon unlocked the car and they entered.

"Did he do it?"

"I don't know." He put a cook in his mouth and tried to feed her the other, Lisbon slapped his hand away. "Fine, more for me."

"That's all you have to tell me? I'm trying to be on your side here, Jane."

"You calling me Jane is very weird."

"Patrick!"

"Okay!" he said defensively, "He's definitely feeling guilt about something, but I don't think he did it, he either feels responsible somehow or he knows something we don't."

"Maybe someone was after him and got his son instead?"

"Hm, maybe, that would make him feel responsible, but I doubt he would let the police involved in that case."

"At least that's something." She said under her breath. "You seriously couldn't figure out a better way to approach the man?"

"My way worked, and it was faster."

Lisbon shook her head.

"You were waiting to get a clear answer so you could kick me back and get rid of me."

"No." She tried to find words to continue the sentence but couldn't.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not the perfect liar detector. I mean, I'm the best there is but…"

She snapped the last cook from his hand and put it in her mouth.

"You could have asked…"

…

"So you don't think he did it?"

"I'm certain he didn't." Jane had his head out of the car window; his eyes closed enjoying the sun on his skin.

"Okay, I agree. But you still think he feels guilt about something."

"Hm-hum."

Lisbon contemplated him for a moment before proceeding. "He talked about his relationship with his son after you left; it seems they were very close."

"Well, I'm sure they had a lot to disagree on, but Darren wasn't the kind to push too far, he always did what his father wanted and as long as it didn't ruined his reputation, the mayor was willing to accept his son. In the end, it worked."

"What you mean, accept his son?"

"Never mind. We're here." He got off the car before Lisbon could continue.

She took after Jane and stood by his side on the sidewalk, they both looked up at the huge building in front of them.

"Hm…"

"What?" Lisbon asked confused at Jane's expression.

"Is a bit weird isn't?"

"What is?"

"Why was he renting an apartment when he could be living in that mansion?"

"Is not like these apartment are small, Patrick."

"Still, if he had such a good relationship with his father he wouldn't just leave."

"Maybe he wanted to be more independent. Something to do with being accepted, as you were mentioning?"

"Hm, yeah, maybe."

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"If you know something, you tell me."

"It's just a hunch."

"That's why I brought you along!"

Jane smiled a bit annoyed, "trust me, if I told you about every hunch, you'd get very irritated."

Lisbon sighed giving up the argument when she saw, past behind Jane, her agents parking their car.

"Hey boss." The tall agent was the first to arrive behind him was Cho.

"What are you two doing here? I thought you'd be over with the search by now."

"Sorry boss, Minelli got a call from Bertram, something about the mayor…"

"Oh god. Seriously?"

"He didn't want us to leave until you get back." Jane recognized the voice, the same agent Lisbon was talking to in the car.

"Damn it!"

"So Minelli's your boss?" Jane entered the conversation.

"Yes," Lisbon started again. "Minelli is my boss. Rigsby, Cho, this is Patrick Jane, he's here to help with the case." "Let's go we've wasted enough time."

The two agents entered the building followed steps behind by Jane and Lisbon.

"I guess the mayor thing is on me."

"You think?"

"I'm sorry, I'll talk to your boss, tell him it's my fault."

"It doesn't work like that, Patrick, I'm the one responsible for you, and whatever you do is my fault."

"Well, that doesn't seem fair at all."

"Look it's fine, don't worry about it."

"Did the mayor say something after I left the room?"

"He warned me he was going to call my superiors if that's what you're asking. I didn't thought he'd be so fast though."

"You should've told me."

"For what? There's nothing you could have done."

He tried not to show his disappointment with that.

Lisbon and Jane were still walking in the hallway when they heard Rigsby shouting out and immediately a man ran off the apartment, he bumped on the psychic, nearly knocking him down.

Jane only had time to turn his head to the other side before he saw Lisbon reaching the suspect at the end of the corridor and tacking him down.

Rigsby and Cho were already by Jane's side, watching as the suspect was handcuffed.

"Close your mouth, man, you're drooling." Rigsby joked at Jane who ogling his boss.

Lisbon brought the man she caught closer to her agents.

"A pleasure to meet you," Jane extended his hand for the handcuffed suspect, "You must be the lover," he completed with a cocky smile on his lips to the confuse faces around him.

…

Jane and Lisbon were waiting in the bullpen for the man they brought in to be ready for questioning.

"So here's where you work."

"Well, I have my own office," Lisbon pointed to the window behind them, "but yes." "Were you expecting something fancier?"

"Not at all, this is pretty much what I… what I pictured." He stopped wondering around and sat beside Lisbon. "Nice couch."

"You can have it, it just takes up space." Jane stood quiet, "What is it?" She looked at him with her big soft eyes, questioning.

"I'm sorry about before."

"Patrick is fine, this isn't your job, you're actually doing much better than I expected."

"Well, that doesn't really say much, does it?"

She laughed, "You're doing well. Get over it."

The rest of the team arrived together. Cho was coming back from the interrogation room, Rigsby, and the red haired agent following him, came back with the team's lunch.

"Boss, Tyler is ready." Cho was the first one to talk.

"That's fine, he can wait." She wasn't hoping for much from his testimony anyway. "What did you guys bring?"

"Pizza!" Rigsby said excited, opening the boxes over Cho's desk.

"Again?"

"Sorry boss, O'Malley was packed; it'd take too long to get our orders." The female agent spoke.

"You know what; we have to stop this, no more pizza until we close a case. Pizza will now be our reward."

"Seriously?" Rigsby asked worried. The team laughed; even Cho cracked a small smile at his friend's reaction.

"Seriously!" Lisbon got off the couch and grabbed herself a slice.

Jane sat back and watched that little weird family, not much different from his own circus one. He loved to watch Lisbon with her "own people".

"You're Patrick Jane, right?" The redheaded agent asked in her friendly, joyful way.

"Ah, yes." Jane got up and joined the small circle of agents, "And you are?"

"Grace."

"Nice meeting you, Grace." He shook her hand before resting against the table behind him, at Lisbon's side.

Jane felt his arm being poked, he looked to his side to see Lisbon holding the pizza box to him while enjoying her own slice. "Come on; don't tell me you don't like pizza."

"Well, not my favourite food but alright."

They proceeded to eat, Jane occasionally stealing a glance from Lisbon.

Rigsby told the others about a woman from their last case that wanted to marry her niece with Cho, they laughed and even Lisbon teased her agent. Moments like that weren't common, they rarely got personal, Jane noticed at their reactions to Lisbon's comments, but it was nice to witness it.

…

"Come on, Agent Grace, ask what's in your mind." Jane knew she had been watching him.

"Hum?" The agent looked to her boss confused.

"No, Teresa and I are not going out, we're just friends."

"She wasn't wondering about that." Lisbon's high voice indicating she wasn't so sure of that.

"And I didn't ask anything," Grace defended herself. Although, she had to admit, it was weird how Lisbon seemed so at easy with that man. She was already fond of the psychic.

"How did you two meet?"

"Really, Rigsby?"

"Sorry boss, just trying to pass the time."

"I work at the circus; Teresa went there a couple of weeks ago."

Even Cho was looking at him now.

"What do you do there?" Rigsby asked incredulous.

He hesitate for an instant, but there was no point to beat around the bush, "I'm a psychic."

"You mean a fake one, right? Real psychics don't work on circus." That was one of Grace's favorite subjects, apparently.

"Where do they work?" Jane asked with a smirk.

"I don't know, helping people."

"No such a thing as real psychics, Grace" Some time ago the red-haired would've been the perfect mark, Jane could've made a fortune out her naive beliefs. He shook his head to get rid of the thought.

"Well, I believe. My aunt can read tea leaves, she never gets it wrong."

"If you're not a real psychic what do you do there?" Rigsby asked.

"Well, I hm, I read people, I tell them what they want to hear and that's about it."

"And they pay you for that?"

"I give them hope, false hope that is. People like being lied to."

"No they don't!" Lisbon couldn't keep quiet while hearing that absurdity, it was almost as if she had taken it personally.

"Yes they do, dear. They just don't like finding out they are being lied to."

Lisbon narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed.

"If you're so good at reading people, read Cho." Van Pelt challenged the pretended psychic.

"Keep me out of it."

"Come on Cho, it will be fun," Rigsby laughed.

"Why would I read Cho when it's agent Rigsby you want to know more about, Grace?"

That stopped the man's giggling. "Me?"

"What? I don't want to know more about Rigsby!"

"Don't worry he's a good guy, some daddy issues, some anger management problems but overall a great guy. An excellent lover, too, I'm sure. Tough, but fair. Right?" Jane concluded with Rigsby's angry look over him. "What? I only said nice things. Well, mostly."

Lisbon smiled satisfied, that should make them quiet for a while.


	7. Unscrupulous asshole

Through the one-way window, Jane and Lisbon watched the young man being questioned.

"Why did you broke up with him?"

"I was tired of having a relationship manipulated by the mayor; Darren would do anything his father asked without questioning."

"And that made you angry."

"Of course it made me angry! Darren was on a leash and the mayor was using our relationship as a way to keep his son from rebelling."

"That agent of yours, Cho, very sharp."

Lisbon chuckled unsure if Jane was impressed or scared.

"Do you think Tyler has anything to do with the murder?"

"No, I don't, and I figure you don't either."

Lisbon leaned against the glass, "I guess not," she sighed in frustration.

"Don't worry, we're close."

"You can be part of the interrogation if you want to. Do you think you can get anything from him?"

"So you're really going to let me be part of this until the end? I thought you only wanted my help with the mayor.

"Do you want to be part of it?"

"Yeah, it's actually interesting. Not something I'd do for a living, but I'm enjoying it."

Lisbon glanced at him looking pleased with his revelation.

After a moment, she added: "Plus, being the "mayor's lie detector" didn't quite work."

"Of course it did."

"You couldn't stay in the same room as him for 2 minutes, Patrick."

"And that was enough."

"To piss him off? I agree."

"Funny."

Lisbon returned her attention to the interrogation although she couldn't conceive her smile.

"When was the last time he contacted you?" Cho continued in his unbiased tone.

"Actually, the day he died."

"You saw him?"

"No, he called me, and left a message."

"And what was the message?"

"I know how this is going to sound stupid, but the reason I didn't tell the police before, was because I didn't thought it was related to his death, everybody was saying this was related to his father politic campaign.

"What didn't you tell us?"

"Besides, I thought I should look into it myself, as if I owned that to him. Stupid." He held his face between his hands.

"Tyler, what did Darren say to you?"

"He said… he said that now he was sure his mother had been murdered."

Cho looked back at glass, searching for answers, despite the fact that he couldn't see his boss and her new guy on the other side.

…

Tyler's testimony turned out to be much more valuable than they were expecting.

Especially when asked about the reason why he was at Darren's apartment earlier.

"Darren had a safe behind his closet, he doesn't use for anything with monetarily valuable, he doesn't need to, but I thought maybe there was something about his mother there."

"Well?"

"I couldn't open it. It requires a password, his mother birthday date, and a key, Darren kept it in the same keychain he had his cars keys, he said that way no one would notice it was important and he would never forget where it was."

"Did anyone else know about the safe?"

"No, I don't think so."

Cho looked at Jane - who was now standing on his side – looking for confirmation that he could change the subject.

"Why did he left his father's house? Was it because of you?"

"No. I had nothing to do with it. They had a disagreement; Darren said he saw his father with a woman, probably younger than Darren himself. He went to question his father and it turned into a fight, the mayor said no one had nothing to do with his life and that was the last time they talked."

"What do you know about the mayor's country house?" Was Jane's first question to the man.

"A country house? I think Darren mentioned his father had a farm once. He said he used to go there a lot when he was a kid but for some reason his father lent it to a family of one of his employees to live. At least that's what the mayor said when Darren told him he wanted to go visit the place a couple of years back."

Jane cocked his head, and as if something was suddenly clear on his mind, he smile and hushed out of the room. "That's all I needed, you're free to go, Tyler."

"No you're not." Jane heard Cho saying, before the door closed behind him.

…

Lisbon was tapping her pen against the small pile of papers on her desk, when Jane entered her office with a cup of coffee and tea. He stopped in front of her placing the cup over her desk.

"Technical forensic was able to open Darren's safe but it was empty. I checked the reports, his mother got sick, died of heart failed, it was natural, why would he say she was murdered?" her expression exasperated as she gazed at him. Jane continued in silence while gazing back at her, for long enough so she had to look away.

She held the cup of coffee and looked up at him again, "thank you."

He sat down in the chair in front of her desk and took a sip from his tea. "Are you always about to bite someone's head off when you're at work?"

She sighted, "I just didn't want to talk to that man again."

"You won't have to."

"How so? Tyler said Darren moved out because he saw his father with someone, we need to ask him about that."

"Patrick? Are you paying any attention to what I'm saying?"

"Mhm", Jane was touching everything over Lisbon's desk, to his displeasure, but not surprise, there was nothing personal, except for a baseball display cube and a picture frame. He turned the frame around to see the picture.

"Yeah, that's him, satisfied?"

Jane brows bumped together in a scowl, "Hm, no, not really." He turned the frame around again and leaned back in his chair. "I read the case files and I-"

"Wait," Lisbon interrupted him, grinning, "You're not going to say anything? No witty comments and bratty remarks?"

Jane squinted at her, "bratty remarks? When have I done that?"

"Patrick."

He half smiled, "no I have nothing to say about your model fiancée. Do you want me to say anything?"

"Ah, no." Her smile mocking him.

"Then can we get back to work?"

"Sure," Lisbon answered laughing. "Go on."

Jane placed the teacup over her desk, "I read the case files, Darren's car's keys were never found."

"So? Whoever put him in the trunk probably threw them away."

"Hardly. This wasn't done by a professional; I'm betting whoever did this, put the keys in their pockets after opening the trunk so they would've their hands free, and only noticed after leaving the scene."

"That's very thin. They could've threw it out anywhere on the way back."

"Even so, they would have an idea of where to find it."

"Okay, but we don't even have any suspects yet."

"I do."

"Who? Does it have anything to do with the farm you asked Tyler? What was that about?"

"There were some pictures of it in the mayor's office; he genuinely loved that place, but suddenly stopped going there, told his son not to go and didn't give a good reason for it."

"And what does that tell you?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I wouldn't be asking if it was."

"He was hiding something there, or someone."

"Who?"

Jane grinned, "All we need is to spread the word about Darren's save- obviously making sure no one knows the police was able to open it-, therefore, I need to go the mayor's house, let the news slip and the murder will go to the apartment. I'm sure of it."

"Do you think Darren really found out something about his mother that is direct related to his death?"

He nodded, gently blowing his tea cool.

"Okay, but I thought we agreed the Tony Vazquez didn't killed his son."

"I never said he did."

"Then who else? And how are they going to know about the safe?"

"Can you just trust me on this one? I'll go to his house you got to the apartment and wait."

"I can't let you got to his house, not after last time."

"Send me with Cho; I'm sure he can handle me."

Lisbon chuckled, "fine."

"That was easier than I thought."

"Well, we don't have much to lose anyway."

…

On the next day, they processed with Jane's plan.

"What are we doing here?" The impersonality in Cho's tone was frightening.

"You, my friend, are going to talk to the mayor and do the police work; I'll talk to someone who really matters."

"And who's that?"

Jane pointed to Delores, standing in the mansion's kitchen.

"The housekeeper?"

"Have a little faith, Cho."

The agent left the room without another word.

"Or don't," Jane muttered to himself.

…

Lisbon's phone vibrated in her pocket, she held it to check who was calling, the screen showed a picture of Jane smiling, and "Handsome Psychic calling" written underneath. She rolled her eyes and answered.

"So that's what you were doing with my phone."

"Did you like it?"

He heard her smiling but she ignored his question.

"How is it going there?"

"By now the killer knows about the safe, I'd be ready."

"We are, Rigsby and I are inside the apartment."

"Okay I'll go get Cho so we can meet with you two, but tell Rigsby that if you happen to tackle someone in the meantime, for him to record and show me later, alright?"

Lisbon hung up.

…

"Rigsby, what are doing?"

He was standing in front of the open refrigerator while Lisbon sat on the couch.

"Just checking."

"Don't eat the dead man's food!" she made a disgusting face.

"Sorry, boss."

Suppressing a sigh, Lisbon rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger.

"Hi, we're not the murder, please open up."

Lisbon grumbled, getting more irritated with every minute and Rigsby hurried to open the door to Cho and Jane, shooting them a look that was a clear warning to Lisbon's mood.

Cho entered in silence and joined Rigsby, sitting on a table by the corner.

Jane walked slowly to the couch where Lisbon were and sat beside her, "hey."

"No one's here yet."

"You have to be patient, woman."

"Why did I let you convince me of doing this?"

"Something to do with my charm, maybe?"

She look at him frowning her eyebrows.

"Okay, just think about this, if it doesn't work we walk away, as you said before we don't have much to lose."

"Fine. But you're sure, the killer knows about the safe by now?"

"Pretty sure."

"Pretty sure?"

"About 70 per cent."

"70 per Cent?" Lisbon started out almost shouting and ended the question whispering when they heard the tinkling of keys outside the door.

Cho and Rigsby entered Darren's bathroom, Jane and Lisbon hid behind the couch.

They heard the sound of the door opening and closing again, followed by the noise of high heels on wooden floor.

Jane grinned excited; Lisbon hit his arm and mouthed "Emma?" he put his finger against his lips indicating for her to be silence.

When they finally heard the keys again, indicating the perpetrator would try to open the safe, Jane jumped from behind the couch. "I knew it!" he pointed at the woman and looked at Lisbon "See?"

Emma just stood there; with her mouth open, not sure of what was happening.

Cho was at the door in case she tried to run.

"Okay but why? And how? How did she put his body in the trunk?" Lisbon questioned Jane.

"What? What body?"

"That's where it gets interesting; she didn't do it alone, her mother helped her." Jane answered; ignoring the woman as if she wasn't in the room.

"Her mother? And who's that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, the mayor send me here!"

"We'll see about that," Rigsby handcuffed Emma and threw the safe key to Lisbon.

"She's Delores daughter."

Lisbon made a face, "Delores?" she gasped, "The housekeeper?"

Jane nodded, "Emma had no reason to kill the mayor, except to protect her mother that killed Darren's mother."

"Confusing," Lisbon analyzed the key in her hand. "Why did she kill his mother?"

"So Emma would finally be part of her father's life and be recognized by him. Emma is the mayor's daughter by the way."

Lisbon's chin felt, "Oh." It was almost as if Jane and Lisbon had rehearsed that conversation to mock the killer. "How did you figure that out?"

Rigsby and Cho walked Emma out of the apartment and the other two followed behind.

"I knew the mayor had hid something, or better someone in his farm, and it's clear she grew up in the camp."

"Okay, now you're reaching."

"I am not."

"You can't tell someone grew up in a farm by their looks."

"The way she stands, the way she walks, her nails, it's obvious."

"Her nails? Right…" Lisbon rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her.

…

When called to testify, Delores told everything, about her affair with Tony Vazquez, and about the day Darren heard her confessing to her daughter, that for months she poised his mother.

"Devil's wings?" Jane turned to Lisbon.

"It's a plant, extremely poisonous to humans if taken several times, it's not that hard to trace but no one was looking for it.

"Hm."

"That's why the mayor was feeling guilt. He knew his own daughter had killed her brother."

Jane nodded still looking at the woman crying on the other room.

"But he only guessed, he didn't see anything, we have nothing to charge him with."

"The guilt he feels will be enough."

…

Jane was sitting on the couch at the bullpen with a cup of tea.

"Congratulations," Lisbon handled him a piece of paper before sitting next to him, "your check."

He held it folded, "Remember you promised to let me spend my paycheck with you?"

"Yes, I believe I do."

"So how about late lunch? Or early dinner?"

"I am hungry"

"Good," he smiled, "maybe we could go to," he unfolded the check with a little suspense, "a hot dog cart?"

"Oh hush!"

"I meant it, how do you guys live on this?"

"You only helped in one case, what were you expecting?"

"Enough for a meal?"

Lisbon opened her mouth, indignant and grinned. She turned her head to look at the ceiling.

"It was pretty fun working with you, and we never closed an investigation so fast."

She was clearly impressed; Jane smiled, coy. "It was great working with you too; it didn't actually felt like work at all."

"I can see how that would be true for you."

"But," he interrupted laughing, "I really felt useful."

She turned to him, beaming. "Did it felt good? To catch the bad guys?"

"Uh, meh. Not really to be honest."

"I know. It's a lot more satisfying when you can't even see they human side anymore."

"The best part though, was definitively watching you tack that guy."

She hit his arm making him laugh.

"Come on," Jane go up, "let's eat."

…

Teresa didn't let him drag her to a fancy restaurant in the city, but they went to a nice little place close to the CBI building.

Once again, she showed her surprise at the way Jane handled the case.

"I watched a few procedural shows so I had an idea at how the work was."

"You? Watching a show about cops?"

"Well, actually, I watched them after I met you."

"Oh..." "Did you guess I was going to come for help?"

"No," he shrugged, "I was just curious about your job."

She bit her lip, wondering what turn that conversation would go if she teased him about that.

"Anyway, enough about work."

"I swear to god if you ask me about Vincent I will leave."

"Why so defensive?" he asked cheerfully, "just making conversation."

She he gave him an unimpressed smile, "fine, then what was it with that face when you saw his picture?"

"I don't know what you're taking about."

"Oh please. It was the first time you couldn't come up with one of your smartasses comments."

"I just- I didn't expected him to be so… you know, good looking."

"You really think he's all that?"

"Uh, well-"

"Are you going to make a move? Should I be ready for competition?"

Jane raised an eyebrow, looking at her over his wine glass while taking the last sip, "I was go to make a move on his fiancée," Lisbon laughed a little nervous, "but now…"

"Do you really think I'm with him because of his looks?"

"Of course not," He frowned, "I have no idea why you're with him."

"Well," she already regretted starting that sentence, but it was too late to stop, "If it makes you feel any better, I think you're better looking than him is." She conclude trying to hide her shyness, in an attempt to sound casual.

Jane smiled looking down at his hands holding the empty cup in front of him, he tilted his head before looking her in the eyes, "how am I supposed to take that, Teresa?" his voice was so soft, somehow shy too and he wasn't making an effort to cover up.

"It was just a compliment, Patrick."

The waiter arrived with a cup of ice cream.

"This looks delicious." Lisbon hurried to say, changing the subject.

"It does" he offered her a spoon.

"You ordered one cup for both of us?"

"Why? Do you want one just for yourself? It's pretty big."

She smiled leery and got the spoon from his hand. "I'm playing with fire here, aren't I?"

"Fire" Jane said with his mouth full, "it's just dessert, Teresa."

Lisbon proceeded to eat, distracting herself with the view from the window.

"I was thinking about the thing you wanted when you were a kid." she spoke before the silence become awkward.

He looked surprised she remembered that conversation, "really? Have you figured what I wanted?"

"I have a few suggestions."

"Shoot."

"Before I do, it's a real thing, right? Not something like love and peace."

"Of course." He chuckled.

"Okay. Was it a magic kit?"

"My neighbor was magician; I didn't need a fancy kit to learn that."

Lisbon made a face and arched her eyebrows, "Was it something appropriated for a kid?"

"Yes, completely g rated."

"Then not that…"

Jane stifled a laugh. "Dear lord, woman."

"Was it a guitar?"

"No."

"A book?"

"Nope. You're supposed to think about the answer."

"I need a clue!"

Jane just shook his head while enjoying the ice cream.

Lisbon paused thoughtfully, licking her spoon, getting back the psychic's attention.

"A telescope?"

"Hm, interesting guess, but no."

"A mini suit?"

"What? As in a small suit? I was a child not a dwarf."

"I don't know, I'm running out of options!"

He smiled at her little pout of irritation, "what will you want from me if you guess it right anyway?"

"I'll guess it! And I'm still deciding on what I want."

He raised his eyebrows in an interested look. "Wow, okay, you're actually thinking hard about this."

"Do you want to take back the offer?" she challenged.

"Of course not, and I'm cheering for you, I'm anxious to fulfill your wishes."

She rolled her eyes, amused.

"Did it require batteries?"

"You're asking too many questions."

"Did it weigh more or less than 3 ½ pounds?"

"…"

"Did you at least get whatever was that you wanted?"

"Never."

"Just give me a clue!"

"Nope."

"You're killing me here!"

…

"Now to your last promise."

"That was?"

"The tour? At your house?"

"Oh, that."

"Yes."

"Can we do that some other day?"

"Are you afraid Vincent is going to be at your place?"

"No…"

"Come on, what do you think I'll do if he's there? 'Hi I'm Patrick, the guy that wishes your fiancée was single'?"

"Yes, something like that, actually."

"I'll be nice." "What is it?"

"Patrick, I never know when you're kidding or when you're…."

"Look I liked you since the first time I saw you, Teresa, I think that was clear enough, and I know it's not my place but I really wish you'd take a look at your relationship and realize you shouldn't be with someone I'm sure you see no future with."

She hid from his eyes, annoyed.

"But I won't make a move on you and I'm definitively not expecting anything else from this relationship, I just like to entertain the idea of having a shot with you. Actually flirting with you, even knowing there's no future here, it's the most enjoyable thing I have done in a long while."

"The last thing I want is for you to feel uncomfortable or even guilt when you're with me."

Lisbon looked shocked. Nothing of what he said was new, but the intensity on his tone, and the directness of his speech surprised her.

She trusted him, but a part of that had to be an act even if he didn't knew it himself, he was used to a life of shows, where things were exaggerated, always with the purpose to impress.

Still, she didn't want to hurt him, and a little part of her didn't want to confirm he had no chance with her either. Lately she'd been spending a lot of time thinking about her personal life, and since a few weeks back this blond charlatan was always present in her thoughts.

She didn't know what to say, he throat was dry. She felt like she was cheating, he deserved better than a joke, but she had nothing else to offer.

"You will always have the blonde that think I'm your sister."

Luckily, for her, he accepted that escape.

"Oh, yes, definitively. That was real love."

…

Lisbon agreed to stop at her house on the way back to the circus, but before she had to go to the CBI.

"I'll go get some files from my boss, and then we can go."

Jane nodded.

"Check if I left my jacket over the couch, please?"

"Sure."

Jane entered the bullpen, he checked the couch and desks, but didn't find anything. He sat to wait for her, and saw that Lisbon's jacket was on her chair inside her office.

…

Lisbon was feeling more at peace with herself about the conversation she had with Jane. Maybe it was time to change some things about her life.

She head upstairs to find him and saw him looking over her desk "Oh, no," she hurried to her office.

"What is this?" Jane turned the file in his hand to Lisbon when she entered.

"Patrick-"

"You're investigating Marcus."

"I'm sorry."

"Why…why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I was going to."

Jane flipped the page, it took him less than a second to find the familiar name, "Alex Jane" he mumbled. "My father?"

"I had to check if he was connected to any of it. Their relationship went way back, you know that better than I do."

"And was he?"

"I-I- we're still not sure, I didn't have the time the read those documents."

He put the folder down, "Teresa, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"It's an ongoing investigation, and you know the ones involved."

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry, Patrick, but that's how things work."

"I can't believe you did this! You didn't have the right!"

Jane wasn't a man to use violent means to intimidate someone, he didn't shout during a discussion, but his cold tone was hurting her more that he could realize.

"I didn't have the right? This is my job, is what I do! I knew there was something wrong with that man, I had the right and the obligation to investigate!"

"So you did it behind my back?"

"Why does it bother you so much? You hate this man!"

"That's not the point!"

"You're going to defend him? The carnival laws are more important than a young girl's life?"

"That has nothing to do with this, I'm not defending him! He's a disgusting man and he deserves worse than jail!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"You asked for me to come here. You went after me and you're going to act like I didn't have the right to know about this? We spent the whole day together and you didn't thought about telling me you were investigating my own father?"

"It's not like that, I was going to tell you but I wanted to look into it first."

"Why? Because you thought I could be in these pages too?"

"No! Because I didn't want hut you over nothing!"

He shook his head, anger getting the best of him.

"You don't trust me. You think I'm just an unscrupulous asshole."

"Patrick, that's insane!"

"You're not wrong, Teresa, I'm not worth much, but this…" He turned the file to a page with pictures of a dead girl, "I haven't sunk to my father's level yet."

Lisbon was confused as to where that was coming from. Rather than angry she just wanted to end that fight and calm him down. It was scar how self deprecating he sounded. "Patrick look at me. You know me. Sometimes better than I know myself. You know that's not how I see you. You're the only one thinking that about yourself!"

Jane looked at her intensely while she talked, her words finally breaking through to him.

He tried calming himself, he turned his back to Lisbon and went quiet for a minute that felt like an eternity.

Lisbon wanted so badly to reach for him. But she didn't.

He felt a little embarrassed at the whole thing, felt like crying and hitting a wall at the same time. Maybe he shouldn't have been so open with her, he should have hid his feelings from her like he did with everyone else.

"You're probably right," he sighed "I'm sorry."

He turned to her with the saddest smile.

"I have to go."

"I'll take you."

He put his hand in front of Lisbon to stop her, "No, that's okay."

She tried to protest but his look over her, said it was better not to.


	8. Flowers

"Why are you so moody?"

Jane put down the red cover book he was reading and looked up at Pete from his makeshift bed, "I'm not moody."

The big man sat in the chair in front of his friend and stood quiet.

"Heard anything about Marcus?" Jane finally said.

"No, he's been gone for days; I don't think he's coming back this time. Why are you after him?"

"I need to ask him about his relationship with my father."

"I think you know everything there is to know."

Pete and Jane shared a look.

"It's not just that." He got up and started walking inside the tent. "I found out some things, you'll know in time, but he was, apparently he was involved in trafficking, he might be responsible for the death of a young girl."

Wide-eyed, "Wow." he scratched his chin, "we've always knew he was a scumbag, the only reason we didn't kicked him out before was in respect to his family. But I had no idea-"

"Yeah, I know."

Knowing he never found out about Marcus was infuriating. He had no relationship with the man, and avoided any contact with him since he was a kid, but still, they shared the same space, Jane should have known, he could've done something. For now, he would ignore that his father might have anything to do with it, that was too much.

"That lady cop found out about this?"

Jane stared at him for a second before nodding. The others circus works wouldn't like to know that, but Pete didn't care.

"Alright." Pete accepted Jane wouldn't talk more about that subject, "Are you going to tell me what happened between you and her, yesterday?"

Jane leaned against a barrel on the opposite side to Pete, threw his book over his bed and crossed his arms, "nothing."

"You slept with your suit on, that's never a good sign."

Jane started fixing the sleeves of his shirt and buttoning his vest, "nothing happened; I just don't think we'll be seeing each other again."

"It seems like you say that every time she leaves."

Jane rumbled something incomprehensible.

"Whatever you did, boy, say you're sorry, fix this." Pete was getting tired of that conversation of half words and his friend's spoiled behavior.

"I don't think I was wrong this time."

"Doesn't matter, fix it."

Jane scoffed at his friend trying an authoritarian tone.

"Didn't know you were so fond of her."

"She's doing you good. And I can't stand that wet dog's face you're making."

Jane smiled thinking that sounded a lot like something Sam would say.

"I promise I'll have a better face for you tomorrow."

"So you're going to talk to her?"

"No, I'll just… get over it." He shrugged "We're leaving in a few weeks, what's the point anyway?"

"I don't know, but if you try you'll find out." His friend made a disconcerted sound. "Will I have to beat you out of here, Patty?"

….

Jane arrived at the CBI carrying a small bouquet. There was a thin line there; he knew Lisbon would appreciate a small one with simple flowers, not for the flowers themselves, but for the gesture. A big bouquet though, would call everyone's attention only making her embarrassed.

He entered the bullpen checking the desks but no one was around.

He was about to seat and wait when he saw someone was walking towards him, he recognized as the man of the picture in Lisbon's office. That tall, handsome, prick!

"Do you need help?"

"Hm, I…Do you know where Van Pelt is?"

"Van Pelt?" The man looked down at the flowers in Jane's hands, "Rigsby will not be happy about this," the guy laughed.

"No," Jane smiled hiding his irritation, "is not like that, I just wanted to thank her, she was great to me while I was helping them with a case during the last two days."

The man seemed confused, "I'm sorry, and you are?"

"Patrick Jane," Jane extended his hand quite satisfied with the man's frown.

"I'm Vincent." He shook Jane's hand, his frown deepening, "You're the psychic? From the circus?"

"So you've heard about me."

"Yeah, I did," he said hesitating, "Teresa told me about you." He stared Jane for a second, "you're not exactly what I was expecting." His sympathy vanished.

Jane smiled cocky, "what were you expecting?"

"I don't know." Vincent chanced a smile, "I guess I thought you'd look more like a clown."

Jane chuckled, "funny, I had a similar thought when Teresa told me about her fiancée." Vincent's smile disappeared and Jane noticed the involuntary movement of the man clenching his fists. "You know, the circus people don't have the best opinion about you guys. Cops."

"Yeah, I imagined." He looked distastefully at the man in front of him, "Want me to give that to Agent Grace?"

Jane looked at flowers in his hands, "nah, that's okay; I want to give it to her personally."

"It was good meeting you, Vincent." The man nodded and watched Jane enter the elevator.

….

Lisbon was lying on her couch lost in thoughts. The phone resting in her hand showed Patrick Jane's contact number although she couldn't remember looking for it. She felt bad about their last discussion but she wasn't going to apologize for doing her job, and she wouldn't have any other reason to call him until she heard back from the FBI on whether his father was or not involved.

A knock on the door brought her mind back to reality.

She got up annoyed and opened it without checking the peephole.

Vincent stood in front of her.

"What are doing here?"

He pecked her lips and walked past her, "glad to see you too."

"Sorry." She closed the door, "you didn't say anything about coming here today."

He sat on her armchair, "just wanted to see my fiancée, how she spent her day off."

"Mostly sleeping." That was a lie.

Lisbon sat on her other couch with her legs tucked under her. An awkwardness hung in the air.

Lisbon wasn't sure if Vince was acting weird or if it was guilt that was making her feel that way, like she had forgotten how to talk to him. It could be that they had been like that for a while but she had ignored it until now.

"Did anything interesting happened today at work?"

"Hm, something I guess, I met the psychic you told me about."

"What?" Her tone more dramatic than she intended, "when?" Lisbon straightened her body, trying to get pass the moment.

"He was at the CBI."

"What did he want?"

"He had a bouquet of flowers, said he wanted to give it to Van Pelt."

"Grace?"

"Yeah, it seems Rigsby has some competition," he chuckled quickly.

Lisbon didn't smile back. She moved uncomfortable with the way Vincent watched her.

"Did he said anything else?"

"Not really. He knew I was your fiancé, though."

Vince wasn't about to admit the conversation hadn't gone as smoothly as that. That would mean acknowledging that man was interested in Teresa, and a part of him knew Lisbon would like to know that. She probably already did, but she wasn't going to get a confirmation from him.

"He saw a picture of you in my office." She answered.

Vincent raised his eyebrows in understanding.

"So did he give her? The flowers to Grace."

"No she wasn't around. He said he would talk with her later."

Lisbon nodded.

"Are you sure he didn't say anything else?"

"Why Teresa? What were you expecting him to say?"

The cold tone surprised her.

"I thought he would be curious about Marcus." Vincent didn't seem to make the connection, "the man from the circus involved in trafficking?"

"Oh right. He didn't said anything about that case. Maybe he thought I wouldn't knew about it."

"Probably," she agreed without conviction and turned to the TV in front of her.

A lot went through Lisbon's head during that free day. However, in the end she still wasn't sure of what to do. She didn't love Vince, but in theory, he was exactly the man she always wanted to get married to.

The only man she had ever been in love with was Greg Tayback, but she was too young back then and she couldn't be more glad that she had chosen her career over him when he proposed.

And if it didn't take her long to get over Greg, maybe love was a frivolous idea to hold on. In her line of work, Lisbon had certainly seen enough husbands and wives betraying themselves to make her skeptical in that area. Vince was the safe choice.

But then again, there was Patrick. She couldn't see a future with him. Not now, not ever. But when she was around him, or even when she so much thought of the moments she spent with him, she couldn't stop herself from smiling, getting flushed and warm. She felt like I school girl having a crush, it was all so silly, but it felt good to feel that way instead of the heavy weigh her relationship with Vince represented.

She needed to talk to Vincent, voice her doubts. She was almost hopping he would act like a jerk, that he would say he was tired of waiting for her to be ready to get married.

She licked her lips, took a deep breath trying to formulate what she had to say,

The man probably noticed the determination on her face because he hurried to interrupt her before it was too late.

"Teresa, I'm a good man, right?"

Lisbon shook her head trying to make sense of what she heard, "Why are you asking me that?"

"Am I?" he ignored her question.

"Yes, of course."

"I've done everything I could to make you happy. I'm a good cop; I've helped your brother-"

"Vincent, where are going with this?" She cut him off. The mention of him helping her brother with his legal problems wasn't going to help his cause. He had used that more than a few times and Lisbon was getting tired of it.

"I'm just trying to remind you of why you're with me," He moved to seat by her side on the couch, "I know it's been weird between us lately. But we've had some good times together, great times, we can have that again."

"Vincent, you haven't done anything wrong, it's just-"

"I know. You haven't been happy, but I'll work on it, on us. Don't give up on us just yet, please Teresa, just gives us another chance."

As it often happens at end of a relationship, her mind tried to focus only on the good moments of them, it should make her feel bad for wanting to leave, should make her miss the beginning of their relationship but it just made her feel sorry. It was sad that they didn't had any memories together that caused an eruption of butterflies in the stomach, not a single memory she treasured or made her feel special.

….

The next morning Lisbon rushed to the CBI, with nothing but coffee in her stomach. She was the first to arrive as usual.

The first thing she saw when she opened the door to her office was a small vase of flowers over her desk.


	9. Stars

"Teresa," Jane whispered her name to himself.

He walked fast to reach her, the mix of happiness and surprise in his expression quickly turning into concern and confusion. "What happened?" He reached for her elbow but she was faster, using the sleeve of her shirt to hide the bandage covering her upper arm.

Even in the haze of drizzle and the dim light from his tent, Jane could see the red shade underneath the fabric.

"It's nothing. Don't worry," she didn't appear to be so certain of it herself.

"What happened? Are you alright?" He failed to hide the anguish in his voice.

She avoided him by looking at the floor.

"I'm fine, Patrick."

He took a step closer.

"Is it a bullet wound?"

Her hand tightened around the badge. "Yeah, I- I screwed up, we were…we were doing an arrest, and, anyway, it's just a graze wound," he looked shocked.

"I'm a cop. It happens," she stated the obvious but Jane continued to look at her startled, "it's part of the job, Patrick. I'm good."

How come Teresa was the one reassuring him?

"Why…what are you doin' here?" His voice was cautious and low, as though anything could scare her off.

"They wouldn't let me stay in my office."

He shook his head in disbelief, almost angry with her, "Of course not. You should be at home, or at a hospital."

"I don't need a hospital."

"Okay…"

What about your house? The question was implied.

"And Vince is waiting for me," Lisbon continued, "at my place I mean. He's going to be worried, make a bunch of questions, and, I don't know, I just… I don't want to deal with him right now, or anyone. I just want to be alone."

"You wanted to be alone so you came looking for me?"

Lisbon sighed, that interrogation hurt more than her wounds. "Damn it, Patrick! Yes. I don't know. I wasn't looking for you, I just, I had nowhere else to go," she paused for a moment. "But you're right. I shouldn't be here."

Jane thought for a second if letting her stay, was the right thing to do. He gently held her by the shoulders, "No, look, you're not going anywhere, forget what I said, you're in no condition to drive so, stay."

Lisbon nodded, "okay," she answered quietly.

She didn't refuse, didn't even try. That said a lot about her condition.

"Come on," he placed a hand on her back and helped her enter his tent.

"Are you sure you're okay, Teresa?" The way she was walking, it wasn't just an arm injury.

"I'm fine, it just hurts a bit."

He helped her take a seat on his chair before switching on a dull light in the corner.

The chair was facing a mirror above an old and small dressing table, Lisbon stopped to look at herself; she used her finger to clean a speck of dry blood off her chin, not hers.

Her reflex was terrifying, it showed everything she didn't want to, every emotion she was trying to conceal, all exposed in her look. She was sure Patrick could see it as well.

Besides the mirror the only other thing over the table was a teacup, the liquid inside was hot, she could see smoke rising from it, and the sweet smell was filling the small space.

She held the cup with both hands and brought it close to her nose, shutting her eyes to breathe in the aroma.

So that's what it was. She recognized the soothing smell from Patrick, she was never quite able to distinguish.

"Nothing makes you remember like a smell," Jane interrupted her moment.

Lisbon stared at him by looking at the mirror; he was sitting on a bench behind her.

She set the teacup back where it was.

"You should drink that; it will make you feel better," she could hear the anxiety in his voice.

"I'm not the biggest fan of tea."

"Why not? It's like a hug in a cup," he tried his charming smile.

"That explains it, I'm not a hugger."

Teresa turned around to face him, just now acknowledging where she was. It felt like she had been moving on autopilot since she left the CBI building that night, and now, finally, she was becoming aware of what she was doing and her surroundings.

She noticed the dark curtains in front of her, and to the side of his bench, separating that room from the stage. Light entered through a crack, the place was well illuminated. She could see a group of people getting in, the few chairs she had vision on were occupied. She could hear them as well, moving around and talking. How did she not notice it before?

"This is your tent."

"Yeah, you're on my…dressing room," those words always sounded too elegant to describe that place.

"They are waiting for you," Jane followed her look to watch the shadows moving behind the draps.

"I'm not doing any show tonight, I'll ask Pete to tell them it was cancelled."

"No, it's okay, you should go."

"Is no big deal. They can go to other presentations."

She hesitated, "it's just, that I need some time to think. If I could stay here alone while you…do your thing."

"If you want some time alone I could take you to my trailer, or I could just leave you here and wait outside in case you need anything."

She didn't care for those choices, but talking was tiring and she just looked at him in silence.

"Okay, if that's what you want, I'll leave you here and go do… 'My thing', then."

Lisbon watched him getting up and putting on his jacket.

"If you need anything, call me, or toss a shoe at the curtains."

She laughed softly, "I will".

"And drink the tea."

Jane didn't like that at all. She had seen the show before, but it was different now, He didn't want her hearing him play cons in a room full of desperate people, taking advantage of them.

It had been years since he could feel any pleasure assuming the psychic part, but tonight was going to be excruciating. _

Lisbon held the warm cup in her hands and turned again to face the curtains. She needed some time alone just as much as she needed to know Patrick was no more than a few steps away from her.

She didn't have many friends, none to count in a situation like that. Mostly, Lisbon didn't like to rely on anyone. She always preferred to handle things on her own, now however, with Vince in her house, the circus seemed like the perfectly place to hide; and Jane, the con man, a reliable and trustful company. She was too tired to start questioning her choices or to find logic in them.

With every sip of tea, the fog in Lisbon's head slowly dissipated.

She returned her attention back to the show, Patrick's voice becoming again more than a comfortable noise in the background. She smiled when Jane looked back searching for her and completely lost track of what he was saying. He was so good with mumbo jumbo she thought the audience never even noticed his nonsense.

While choosing the victims for his con, Jane went for the ones he knew were there for pure entertainment and unbelievers. No pretending to speak with the dead this time, no famous cures and magical solutions for life problems, just silly tricks, guessing work. It wasn't a good show, Jane knew that. he thought it'd make him feel better but it only made it clearer how sick he was of doing that. The exhibition lasted for about 20 minutes but if felt like hours.

Not many were waiting for the psychic after the show; Jane was able to get rid of them in just a few minutes and with a single card with a woman's number on it. He waited until they were all outside to get behind the curtains.

"Hey."

Lisbon looked well, just a little tired, but Jane was just as bad.

"Hey. What happened to you?" It was a comment on his exhausted expression.

"Were you watching?"

"Sorry I wasn't paying much attention."

"Good."

He sat on the couch and Lisbon joined him.

"But I did notice you looking at me at very five seconds."

"Just making sure you hadn't escaped."

"Was the show really that bad?"

Jane chuckled; he was relieved she was finally looking at him in the eyes.

"You look better."

"I am." She felt a little embarrassed. "I wasn't thinking straight when I got here. I had time to put things into perspective."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I just want to lie down and forget about this day. Until tomorrow at least."

"Do you want to sleep here?"

She was more than surprised with his question.

"Take my bed; I can sleep on the couch."

"Patrick… Thank you but It's fine."

Lisbon side looked him amused.

"What?" Jane tried to read her.

"Isn't that a little out of character for a Casanova like yourself?"

"Casanova?" He pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Yeah, right. Like you don't have a different damsel in every city you ever woke up. Just waiting to have her heart broken again by the charming psychic."

"Well, two, in case one of there is busy when I come back."

Lisbon slapped his arm chuckling, "Hush. I'm not joking!"

"And I'm no heartbreaker; I've been nothing but a gentleman to you. But I appreciate the "charming"."

She laughed and they shared look.

"It's very sweet of you to offer, but I have to go."

"You can't drive that way."

"I'll manage."

Lisbon exhaled loudly, "What am I even doing here?" she asked herself frustrated, but regretted when she realized how that could sound to Jane. "I'm sorry," she looked at her empty teacup, "I'm really glad I came, I'm just confused."

"Don't apologize, it's alright." Jane looked down at his hand letting Lisbon know he was a little nervous. "But… the rain is getting stronger," he continued, "you could wait here for a bit, just until it's safe." She tried to protest but he interrupted, "and before you go, let me show you something. After that, I promise I won't insist for you to stay, and I'll drive you home if you want."

"Show me something? What is it?"

"You will have to come and see."

"I'm in no condition to do," she gestured to her body "…anything."

"You won't need to do anything just come with me to the main tent," he got up and offered his hand to help her.

"It was closed when I got here," she accepted his hand and slowly got up.

"I know. There's no presentation there today."

Outside, the shows were being cancelled and the public was leaving. The sky was black and not a single star was visible.

Jane and Lisbon were underneath his tent's little balcony, watching the movement. The furious wind was dropping posters and making hats fly.

"Everyone's leaving; it will be just you and me."

Lisbon arched her eyebrow at him. "I believe you were going to show me something?"

"Yes, come on."

Lisbon didn't seem to be able to run so Jane slowed down until she was comfortable with the pace, using his jacket over them to protect from the bitter rain.

He kept his free hand on her back the whole time, stroking her gently; it was the only part of her body that didn't felt cold, she wondered if he was aware of his movements.

When they reached the tent and his hand dropped, she let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"So, there's a little problem with my plan."

"You don't say," she smirked.

"Would you be able to, hm, go up that ladder?" He pointed to the steps used to reach a platform used by circus performers.

"Patrick, at any other day I'd love to trapeze with you but today is just not a good day for me."

He smiled, "I'm serious."

"Why would I go up there?"

"You will see, come on, I'll help you."

"I don't need help," frustrated, Jane opened his mouth and closed again. Lisbon continued, "But I'll accept it, just so you won't look at me like that."

"Thank you." He said rolling his eyes.

He helped her up, but instead of taking her to the platform, he made her lie down in the safety net used by the aerialists.

"Okay, this is actually very comfortable."

"It gets a little better." He rolled over her and got down the stairs again.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Just wait."

"Patrick if you leave me here, I swear."

"Of course I'm not leaving you there, calm down, woman."

She sighed. It hurt to turn to look down so she lay on her back, still able hear him.

Suddenly all the lights were turned off, before Lisbon could protest, the darkness became an immensity of stars reflected above her. An impressive special effect.

A moment later, Jane joined her.

"You have to admit, this is pretty nice."

"Fine." She smiled at his brag. "It's beautiful."

"Not as good as actually looking at the night sky, but it'll do it." "When I was a kid, I used to sleep here if it was raining."

"The airstream?"

Jane sighed, "My father wasn't the best person to share a small space like that."

Lisbon looked at him with eyes that knew too well what he meant. He had given hints of how his childhood had been like and unfortunately, she could relate to the worst of it.

Everything went quiet for a good while.

Without noticing, she was staring at Jane, making a map of his features. He was looking at the lights lost in thoughts of his own.

"Patrick?"

He turned to look at her.

"For how long are we going to pretend our fight never happened?"

"Do we really need to talk about that?"

"Yes. We do."

He sighed tired.

Lisbon continued: "You stormed off; I saw it on your face when you left my office that you didn't want to see me again. We can't let things as they are."

"But we're fine, aren't we? I overreacted. Now I'm over it. I still think I had the right to know, but I understand why you couldn't tell me."

"I just need you to know that it had nothing to do with trusting you, I never thought you would become part of that investigation."

"I know. I'm sorry, about everything I said. I guess I have some trust issue to work on."

"I'm sorry too. I was doing my job and that's all I thought about. I didn't consider how it would be for you…"

"I get it." He stared at her. "Thank you for the message."

She knew he was talking about the message she sent when she found out Jane's father had nothing to do with Marcos' scheme.

"And thank you, for the flowers."

Jane looked happy to know she got them.

"Why did you tell Vincent they were for Van Pelt?"

"I didn't want to cause you any trouble."

"I wouldn't do anything wrong by receiving flowers. You should have told him the truth, if he had anything to say he should say it to me."

Jane preferred not to comment on her strange, obvious need to pick a fight with her fiancé.

"Why? I didn't even know if you would accept the flowers."

"Yes, you did."

"Maybe, but I didn't have the right to assume that. And he didn't believe it anyway." "There's also the matter of, you know, his size."

Lisbon looked puzzled.

"I didn't want to get a guy that big as my enemy!"

She put a hand on her stomach and slapped him with the other, "Don't make me laugh!"

He smiled with her but he was focused on her eyes.

Every time they looked at each other, he could see she was being crushed by guilt, even now that she was feeling better, more alive and smiling, whenever those green emeralds looked back at him, it was like she was asking for forgiveness.

Given her state when he first saw her that night, and knowing what she did for a living, he guessed what happened, and hoped that wasn't going to affect her more than it should, that it wasn't going to break her.

Just like that, the conversation took an inevitable turn. Jane couldn't hide, actually, he didn't want to hide his worriedness.

His hand slowly lifted her shirt, sending shivers down her spine. She watched as his face turned into the same panicked expression, he had when he first saw her that day.

"How?" He asked but she didn't answer. There were multiple black spots on her belly, caused by a shotgun, he guessed.

"Please tell me you let the doctors take a look at these. I'd be the first one to tell you not to trust them but…you could have a broken rib or something."

"I don't, I would recognize the pain."

Hearing that stung. "You still need to take care of it."

"It's not like I hid and ran from the paramedics. I let them make this bandage." She tried to easy the moment, earning a faint smile from Jane. "But I will check with them again, tomorrow, I swear."

His hand reached for the bruises on her stomach, his fingers tenderly caressing the area, light as a feather.

Lisbon's breath got faster and heavier.

"Does it hurt when you breathe?"

"I took some painkillers, they did the trick."

She put her hand over his. "I'm going to be fine, don't worry," she said before unfolding her shirt back into place.

Jane looked at her in silence as if apologizing for crossing any lines.

"If you weren't wearing a vest…"

"But I was, nothing happened," she couldn't deny it wasn't all that bad to know how much he cared about her, but he looked so scared she felt guilty and a need to calm him down.

"How can you say this is nothing?" His voice was hoarse and so low she could barely hear him over the sound of the rain outside.

He laid down on his back again and watched the star shaped lights dancing above. He closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, "What happened today?"

Silence.

"You don't have to tell me, but it might be good to let it out."

"A woman died today, and it was my fault."

He had to wait a moment before asking: "How was it your fault?"

"I told her I'd protect her. I promised, but I got there too late," her voice broke; she closed her eyes to recompose herself.

"I'm sorry," He said firmly looking into her eyes. He wish he had something better to say, but it was pointless to tell her it wasn't her fault, Teresa knew that already, but she would need time to digest it.

"It was the first time I lost someone like that since I became in charge of the unit. I was calling the shots, I was responsible for the investigation, and I was responsible for getting there too late."

"Teresa, I don't envy your job but isn't that even… common? I'm absolutely sure you did your best, but you can't win every time."

"I know that, but I shouldn't have promised her. I could've done things different," "…If I had got there sooner, she would be alive," rage was getting the best of her.

"Did you get her killer?"

"We did. The son of a bitch will pay for her life."

She wiped a single tear with her palm. Her face was pure anger.

"No one had the courage to stand against him, no one but Amanda."

"She knew of the risks when she decided to help you."

"Or maybe she really believed I could protect her."

Lisbon surprised herself with how much she was telling Jane.

"He went to my office, he mocked my team and I couldn't do anything." "I always judged my superiors when they didn't go by the book, but if I had learned anything with them..."

"But that's not you, Teresa."

"No, it isn't," she said, not entirely sure that was a good thing.

It seemed nothing else could be said and the discussion died there. Once again, they were silent. But this time Lisbon was feeling much better, the guilt was still there and she wouldn't get rid of it so easily, but having someone to share those feelings made it all better.

Lisbon revisited that day. What could have happened if she wasn't wearing the damn vest? What would she regret? Facing death was not a rare occurrence in her line of duty; she couldn't question her whole life every time she heard a gunshot. But this time she couldn't help but think about her current situation.

Maybe being with Jane for the next week wouldn't change her life, but why not live that experience with someone who could make her feel so good, when the alternative was to be stuck with someone that didn't add anything to her life and was rather becoming a nuisance.

Normally a day like that would lead to her crying alone for a night, coming back to work avoiding the subject at the same time, immersing herself so deep into a case she would forget about the world. She would act calm for everyone to see while the anger was eating her up to the point she thought she was going to explode.

She didn't want to imagine what she would be capable of, if things got out of her hands. If she couldn't make things right, again. Her destructive way of dealing with frustrations and traumas was scary, but that was her process, it had always been. Letting someone inside, a stranger no less, that was new. She couldn't just ignore him.

"Patrick. I'm sorry, I have to go." Lisbon quickly raised her upper body forgetting about her bruises, she clenched her teeth to hold back a moan of pain, and closed her eyes tightly.

Jane was already behind her, he put a hand over her wounds and she rested her back against his chest, it hurt so bad she thought she was going to pass out.

"Stay here, you can go in the morning." He whispered.

"You promised you wouldn't insist."

He pressed his forehead against her back and sighed. "Yeah, I did."

He licked his lips, a little anxious, "Are you going to be alright?"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine; it felt good to talk with you."

"Just promise me you won't let this get into your head."

"I won't."

"Amanda died because she wanted to do the right thing. She wouldn't blame you for it." the seriousness in his tone got Lisbon's full attention.

"Jane?"

"Hm?"

"This won't be the last time we'll see each other. This time I'm sure of it."


	10. Trouble

* * *

Lisbon was exhausted. They had been arguing for hours; she was repeating herself and getting nowhere. It was only out of respect for the years they had been together, that Lisbon decided she wouldn't kick her fiancé out of her house before he accepted the reality of their situation, even if that demanded a whole night of an useless argument.

"I told you I needed time to get used to the idea of getting married, but it has been a year and, honestly, I- I can't see that happening anytime soon."

"That's okay. I will wait."

"That's not fair to you, Vince."

"I don't mind waiting for you, Teresa! We're worth it!"

"Are we? She sighted and got up. "Honestly, the more I think about it, the only reason I see for us to still be together is that we are exactly what we pictured as our perfect partners, but that's just an idea we created, Vincent, and we keep holding ourselves to that image waiting for this to make sense."

"But it makes sense, Teresa!"

"Maybe in theory, Vincent."

He followed her to the kitchen, confused, he wondered for how long she had been thinking about their relationship as if it was a burden. What had she heard from the other man to come to that conclusion?

"You can't seriously believe the right guy for you it's that clown that takes money from grieving woman too desperate to see how ridiculous his act is!" He raised his voice and spit the words.

That took Lisbon by surprise and for a second she didn't know what to say.

Vincent took deep breaths, trying to regain control. He knew yelling was not going to work on his favor. If Lisbon thought he was trying to intimidate her, he was done. He lowered his voice and sounded as harmless as he could:

"I know that guy is interested in you," that was the end of his denial, "and as soon as I saw him, it all made sense, why you have been weird with me."

"No Vincent, don't do that, and don't talk about him like that. This is not about anyone else but us!"

"So are you saying he has no influence on the way you've been behaving lately?"

"He does. He made me realize I'm not happy with how things are between us. And the saddest part is that I can't find a good reason to fight for us."

* * *

Jane woke up with the sound of his troupe's cars leaving the circus. He used his pillow to cover his ears but nothing could cover up the noise of that old death trap Pete drove.

They were all heading to the city. Not everything can be found on the road, and so they went in groups to get their month supplies.

Sam slammed the side of Jane's trailer, "See you later, sleepy beauty." her voice muffled by the shut window.

He closed his eyes and turned to the other side. Nothing would make him get out of his bed that early.

Two hours later Jane was still awake and his need for tea became stronger than his sleepy body. He got up, put on a pair of black jeans that were crumpled at the foot of his bed, and a blue shirt from his wardrobe.

He put the kettle on the stove and sat on the passenger's seat of the airstream. The view outside the windshield was nothing but an empty camp, Jane could imagine tumbleweeds rolling by the dry, cracked soil, just two days after the night long rain had turned all the dust into mud. He yawned once, twice, soon his eyelids felt heavy, and a moment after that, he felt himself starting to drift.

"Patrick Jane!"

Jane startled awake with the shouting of his name. He looked around but everything was as quiet as it was a minute earlier, nothing but the boiling water was interrupting the silence.

He got up, turned off the stove, and started pouring the water in his favorite teacup.

"Patrick Jane!" – Someone shouted his name again.

"Shit!" Jane jumped, almost dropping the kettle in his hand, spilling drops of hot water close to his naked feet. He cursed once more before dropping everything to go check the airstream window on the back, the voice seemed to be relatively far but it certainly coming from that direction.

An angry man shouting his name could only be a betrayed husband or an unsatisfied client, or both. The voice didn't seem strange, but Jane ignored that thought, he had to be imagining things.

He couldn't see anyone through the window, the man was most likely was wandering around the tents looking for him. Jane caressed his nose in a reflex, remembering the last time he had been hit in the face, not two months ago. Pete was always the one to save him in those situations, and now he wasn't there.

He tapped his index finger against his lips in concentration. Jane had a distinguished way of moving and talking, graceful manners of a gentleman that could be read in his body language even during stressful situations.

It would be wise to stay inside his trailer. Lock the door and stay quiet. There was nobody else there; the man after him would think Jane had left with his troupe, and that would be the end of it.

If that plan didn't work, Jane could fight. A little. He told himself.

Jane never stepped on a gym, wouldn't do it if his life depended on it, however his routine constrained him to some manual work, changing cities taking all that structure wasn't easy. He had some muscles.

And after getting his nose broken so many times, Pete forced him to take a few fight lessons, said Jane had to learn enough to keep himself alive until he arrived. And although Jane hated violence, and couldn't understand the thrilling of a fight, he was a fast learner and his ' _cold read'_  skills were a fantastic weapon when used to read the opponent's next move.

Most of the time however, the lessons proved to be useless, Jane would rather run from said angry man or make a witty comeback instead of using his fists to defend himself.

He peeked through the window once more and there the man was, right outside. Tall, handsome and furious. Walking around like he was looking for a way to burn the whole place.

"Oh. This is going to be fun." Jane murmured to himself nervously.

There would be no "staying in and hiding" this time.

He stopped by the bathroom, checked his stubble, took a deep breath and headed out.

Not a sound could be heard out there, the silence was so heavy Jane thought he could have gone deaf. The hot breeze greeted him, messing with his hair, the soil was warm and Jane thanked the shadow created by his trailer now that he noticed he was still barefoot.

"Hey." Jane shouted at the same time closing the airstream door in a thud behind him.

The detective turned to face him trying to disguise his confusion.

"It's Vince, right?" Jane continued in an uninterested tone.

Vincent rushed towards him without a word. Jane stood frozen in place, his only reaction was to shrink away scared when Vincent grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt and hit his head against the airstream.

Jane watched the man's face becoming red, his eyes glaring his prey no more than a few inches way. The psychic's shirt had ridden up his chest revealing his pale stomach; Vince was holding it so tightly his knuckles were white.

Jane put his hand in the air as a peace sign; "Oh-kay", he pointed to them both: "Before we do this little dance, what is this about?"

"Do you think you're funny?"

Seeing that there was no way he could get out of that situation, Jane wore a smirk that wouldn't leave his mouth even if all of his teeth did.

"I consider myself a lot of things but right now I really just want to know why your face is so close to mine."

"You don't actually think she likes you, do you? She's just after a little adventure; it won't take long before she sees you're just a piece of shit!"

"Oh." Jane put his hands down, he looked incredibly happy despite the situation, "Did she broke up with you?" Vince clenched his jaw to him, "You know what they say, may the best man win."

Vincent smashed Jane's back against his trailer again.

"Whoa" Jane complained. "Look dude, the truth is, if she broke up with you," he chuckled not able to help himself, "that has nothing to do with me, maybe she just saw who you really were."

"And who's that?"

"A boring egocentric prick? Just a guess...Or maybe you're just  _really_  bad in bed."

Faster than Jane could've noticed, Vincent let go of his collar and punched him in the stomach. He bent over and wailed with pain.

Lisbon's fiancé took a step back watching Jane trying to catch his breath.

"I'm a good cop, a good boyfriend," Vince started much louder than he needed to. There was no bravado in his words but they were charged with self-pity, "I always treated her well, her family; I could give her any future she wanted. But you?" He looked at the man in front of him with disdain, "you're nothing but a charlatan, a nobody. All you did your whole life was to deceive good people, why would you think you deserve a good life?"

"I don't think I do." Jane muttered. His playful attitude gone.

"You're right about who I am, but at least I know where I stand." Jane held his stomach, barely able to stand still. "Any good thing I do is because I want to, the way I treat Teresa is because I like her and I know she deserves it. There's nothing good about a "good guy" who thinks his decency should be rewarded. You did nothing but your job by treating her well. She doesn't owe you anything!"

"I never said she did!"

"It's clearly implied in the way you so possessively talk about her."

Vincent ignored him.

"We didn't broke up, we're on a break!" Vincent said, pointing a finger to Jane "That's translation for 'we'll get back together. She doesn't want to lose me, as I said; she just wants a little adventure."

Jane laughed humorless in disbelief.

"I still don't know what you're doing." Jane panted with the pain, "Did you came all the way here to show you have muscles? That didn't help you keep your girlfriend, did it?"

Vincent contemplated the idea of punching him again.

"You're not the kind of man a woman falls for, Patrick Jane. You're the buffoon they tell their friends about. You're not trustworthy. You're just a joke…  _a clown_."

Jane matched Vincent's smile.

"You seem to think you know a lot about me. Do you want to hear what I know about you? About the little shallow man I see in front of me?"

"No," he shook his head, "I'm not interested in your stupid tricks." A moment passed and his smug disappeared, "stay away from her, that's the message."

Jane almost felt sorry for him. Despite the ridiculously possessive- obnoxious speech, he was worried about Teresa.

"That's the message." Jane echoed, mocking. "Stay away or what?"

Vincent seemed surprised with his answer, he showed his teeth, "Just stay away."

"I'm not your dog, Vince. You'll have to do better than that."

This time, Vincent aimed for Jane's jaw, but the other was faster. Jane ducked, and it was only surprise that allowed him to tackle Vincent at the waist, throwing both of them to the floor. He immediately pinned the bully and punched him with all he had.

The pain was excruciating. Jane held his hand close to his chest; he clenched his teeth and tried not to cry out thinking he had probably broken one or two fingers.

The man beneath him turned his face to the side and closed his eyes. It was only for a brief moment, but Jane knew he could be faster than that, he could have gotten up immediately if he wanted to, but he was recovering from the surprise of the turn of events, focusing his anger on the man over him.

Jane looked ahead formulating his next move. What could he do next? Beat the man senseless? Stay and face the infuriated beast? His best chance would be to run; it'd be a little humiliating, pathetic maybe, but so was that fight.

Thus, the psychic sprinted. For two steps.

Vicente reached for Jane's ankle and dropped him to the floor.

Jane held the side of his head that hit the ground, and complained. His curly hair was now spread out over the part of the soil not protect by the shadow of his trailer, the sun blocked his vision and he only saw his adversary when it was too late.

One of Vincent's hand grabbed him by the shirt and the other punched him in the face. Jane immediately felt the taste of blood. His head hit the floor again. Over his moans, he heard Pete's car arriving with the rest of his troupe, and he couldn't help a smile, cut short by the pain of the cut on his lip.

"That was surprising," Vincent snarled, walking around the other man. He scratched the side of his face where Jane had hit him.

"Trust me;" Jane raised his hand in a claw, unable to move his fingers. "I was surprised by it, too."

The other man kept on walking around Jane, carrying a frown and making the psychic uneasy.

"Look, why don't we just settle this the easy way?" Maybe it was the punch, possibly the sun in his eyes; however he proceeded with, "We put Teresa in the middle and you call her, then l call her, and we'll see who she comes to."

Vincent didn't give a second for Jane to regret opening his mouth before he kicked the psychic in the stomach.

Jane closed his eyes and held his breath, nothing had ever been worse than that, it was unbearable. His vision became blurred and he thought he was going to throw up and pass out on his own vomit. "Not on the same place!" He mumbled, convulsing in pain, referring to also being punched on the stomach.

Vincent's face was now lined with worry, afraid he had gone too far, "I told you to stop being funny!"

"Actually you didn't," Jane hissed and croaked. He turned to the side, rolling on the floor, getting his face all dirty.

The officer put his feet on Jane's shoulder, making him roll back. He thought the man was going to kick him again, but it seemed Vincent was analyzing what he had done. Jane had whined so much, Vince was scared he could had broken something inside his body.

Reluctantly, Jane opened his eyes, and to his relief and bliss Pete's figure emerge behind his aggressor.

"My angel," he grinned and passed out.

* * *

"Now rest," the woman ordered Jane, taking the teacup from his hands, "I'll ask Pete to come over here."

The psychic didn't seemed pleased with that treatment, but let her go without a word. Either grateful or too tired to complain.

On her way out, Sam saw Lisbon arriving.

"Don't worry, is not half as bad as he make it sound." She said before leaving without a second glance, and Lisbon thought to herself that she could now understand why Sam hated outsiders.

Lisbon entered the tent and stopped at two steps from the entrance.

"Hey," she greeted Jane shyly.

He smiled, encouraging her to continue, and as she walked in and her features became distinct, his smile grew, lighting up his face, but also reminding him of his cuts and bruises, and for a quick second his face contorted in pain.

"I'm fine," Jane answered the question implied in her worried eyes. "Never better"

"Yeah, I can see that." Lisbon sarcastic reply matched his annoyed tone.

Now that Lisbon was closer, it was possible to see the swelling of Jane's top lip and the red hematoma forming there. His clothes were all dirty, and torn apart. It was clear someone tried to clean his face up, but gave up, leaving him looking like a kid that had been playing in the mud for hours.

She sat on the side of his makeshift bed, her big eyes piercing him with a look of sorrow and compassion.

"You're all messed up," she chuckled fixing the collar of his shirt.

"You should have seen the other one."

"Oh, I did. Pete did a good job on him."

"Not alone!" Jane lifted his hand with two fingers bandaged and strapped together.

Lisbon looked at him the same she'd look at a child doing something incredible brave, and failing miserably.

She held his hand to laid it over his stomach, noticing he had been bandaged up there as well.

"Did he punch you in the stomach too?"

"And kicked."

"Oh my god." She ran her eyes over him, her mouth a perfect circle of shock.

"I didn't think- I can't believe he did this to you!"

She continued going further analyzing his bruises.

"Hum," Jane interrupted her with a smirk, "if you're going to see mine, it's quite reasonable I get to see yours first." he used his chin to point to where she had been shot a few days ago. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." She looked down at her stomach feeling embarrassed as the memory from the other night hit her.

"So it doesn't hurt anymore?" Jane pointed to her bruises covered by her shirt, and Lisbon immediately put her hand in front of his finger.

"Only if you poke it," she hurried to say.

Jane laughed and relaxed, and again rested his head against the wall behind his bed.

Lisbon lifted his shirt and analyzed the dressing just below his chest area.

"Thank god it was he didn't break a rib," Lisbon said to herself than Jane.

The bandage was holding a mix of something green and stick.

"What's this?" She asked showing the green stuff on her finger.

"Sam put those herbs there. She said it would help with the pain, but I'm pretty sure it's only power is bad smell."

"Hush!" Her smile quickly disappeared, "I'm sorry, Patrick, I'm so sorry."

"Teresa, stop. I'm sure whatever Pete did to him was worse." Jane tried to light up the mood.

"No it wasn't, but what I'll do, will be."

She grabbed a bottle of water next to Jane, reached for a shirt nearby, and proceeded to clean his face, to have something to do with her hands.

Jane would have loved that, if Lisbon hadn't been cleaning him using one of his favorite shirts, and if her hands weren't treating his face like a windshield.

"Owww!" He whined until she stopped.

"Sorry!" Lisbon came to her senses, "I'm sorry," she laughed delicately when he shot her an annoyed look. "I was actually expecting you to be much more of a drama queen." she wetted the shirt again, and continued to clean his face up. "You're holding up pretty well."

" _Much more_  of a drama queen?  _Much more_?" He looked extremely insulted. "I'm here trying to look all tough and made of hardy stack for you."

"Yeah," she chuckled, "that's exactly how I think of you: hardy."

Lisbon got a little of the green medicinal stuff and used on a few scratches he had on his forehead.

"Teresa," Jane tried to look up without moving his head to see watch she was doing, "that smells like butt."

"Now so does your face." She continued to clean him.

"Would you let me take you to the hospital?"

"No."

"What if he broke something inside you?"

"Meh. Our doctor took a look at it, I'll be fine."

Her hand stopped over his cheek. "You have a doctor living here?"

"Well, I don't think  _you_  would call her that."

Lisbon twisted her lips, unpleased, and resumed with her task.

"She's very good." Jane reassured. He didn't believed the woman's  _methods_ , but then again he wasn't a "real doctors" fan either. "And like you're one to talk."

"I went to the hospital that night, before going home."

"Oh. You did?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"Okay, you win that one."

He hoped that would be the end of it, but Lisbon tried again.

"So? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Teresa, you don't have to feel guilty."

"Yes, I do."

"You were not the one to beat me up."

"But it's my fault he came here."

"No it isn't, he's a grown man, and he can answer for himself."

She sighed, needing courage to continue, "Vincent is a cop, Patrick, if you press charges-"

"I'm not going to do that, Teresa."

"You should, he deserves to be punished. He's supposed to be the law; he can't act like a maniac."

"Teresa." Her name sounded like an annoyed plea.

"Alright," she nodded, "if you really don't want to-"

"I don't."

"Then I won't talk about it again."

Lisbon didn't need to tell Jane how much that was a relief. If he did pressed charges, the reason for the fight would spread like fire, and her personal life become the hottest subject of gossip for the office including her new team. That would not have been easy to deal with, especially Lisbon being the reserved person she was.

She continued: "If you trust me you would let me take you to the hospital anyway."

"That's a low blow. This is not about trust."

"Yes it is."

Jane frowned.

"I would kiss your pout if your lip wasn't so swollen." Lisbon turned red immediately although she did her best to sound casual.

"I don't mind," Jane was quick to respond.

Lisbon chuckled.

" _To be honest_ , I thought you'd at least say something about the fact that I'm now…single." She looked at him with a hint of expectation.

"You're not  _really_  single."

"What do you mean?"

"You're on a break.  _To be honest_ ," he imitated her, "I didn't think you'd be so juvenile to accept that."

"I'm not on a break!"

"Vincente wasn't lying when he said you were."

"And am I lying now?" Lisbon asked offended. "You're an idiot".

Jane lowered his head feeling silly, he hadn't had much time to think about that until now, but Lisbon accepting that situation would be absurd.

"And even if that was true, do you really think I'd stay with him after I found out about what he did to you?"

"Of course not. I'm sorry."

She gazed him with a frightening glare.

"We spent the whole night arguing, I  _had_  to agree with him that it was only a break so he'd let me go to work. As soon as I could, I stopped by his place taking everything that was his, and put an end to that story.  _That's_  when I found out he had come here"

"I'm sorry," he faced her stare showing sincerity.

"You should be!"

She put down the bottle of water and threw the shirt on Jane.

"Now lie down."

"Why?"

"You need to rest, and having your upper body like that doesn't help with the pain."

"Are you leaving?"

"Just lie down."

Jane calculated what would be his best alternative, and decided to obey.

"Do you have clean clothes around here?" Lisbon asked while looking around the room.

"I had," he held up his now filthy and wet shirt, "That's okay, I need a shower, and a clean shirt won't change that."

Lisbon nodded quietly, her sudden rush, now over. "I think I'll be going now."

"Wait, before you go, hmm, would now be-" he interrupted himself and looked at her, confused.

"What?"

Jane grinned enthusiastically, even forgetting about his bruised lip, "were you planning on undressing me?"

Lisbon immediately turned red again, this time she could actually feel her face burning, "Just the shirt!" She tried not to smile, "I'm sure you can ask Pete to help you take off your pants."

Jane agreed with a head tilt and raised eyebrows that made Lisbon laugh.

"So, what were you going to ask me?"

"When?" Jane pretended to be confused just because he liked to torture her a little bit.

"Before, when you said if it was a good time…"

"A good time to ask you on a date?"

"You're fast!"

"Like you weren't expecting it."

"That's not the point." She couldn't help smiling and he did the same.

"So?" he held her hand. "Is it finally a good time to ask you out, woman?"

"I literally just broke up with someone and you can't stand up without passing out with pain. Yeah, I can't think of a better time to do it."

"I'm serious. Just give me a couple of days to recover."

"You will need more than that."

Jane's mouth turned into a thin line, his eyes waiting for a real answer.

"Alright, look, this weekend I have to go see my brother in Chicago, but next weekend, if you're still interested."

"That's two weeks from now."

"Less than a week and a half." She corrected him.

"You know I won't be here for much longer."

"I know. But I think I need some time…" " _We_  need some time."

"Alright, I'll wait."

Lisbon bit her lower lip nervously, "I need to go, but I'll call you tomorrow to see how things are."

She leaned down and stopped just before touching his lips, Jane looked at her mouth, anticipating, and hoping, he deserved that feeling after that hellish day.

"Hey boy," Pete entered the tent, his eyes glued to the little bottle in his hands, "Sam asked me to bring you this and-" He lifted his eyes to an extremely annoyed Jane.

"What?" The man asked confused.

Jane sighed with dramatic exasperation, " _thank you_ , Pete."

* * *

_I hope this was enjoyable...^^_

_By the way, last week I tried making doodles illustrating this fic, I can't draw, but if you're curious to see how it turned out check here._


	11. Long Night

Lisbon put on her lipstick, looking meticulously in the mirror to make sure she wasn't exaggerating on anything, and checked her little black dress once again, still uncertain of her choice.

It was her first date in years, a little apprehension was expected.

She even left work an hour earlier that day to make sure she'd have enough time to get ready, something not overlooked by her unit, that knew full well their boss' workaholic reputation.

Right before she left, Lisbon had heard them talking about how happy she looked, Grace even said she was 'glowing', whatever that meant, so it didn't come as a surprise when Rigbsy tried to confirm if she had a date. Her romantic life always seemed to be a popular topic among the three.

The agent still couldn't understand how the conversation went, she only remembered mumbling and trying to change the subject, but somehow, she confirmed to Rigsby that she indeed had a date, and to her surprise, Van Pelt guessed it was with Jane right after. That, however, she didn't confirm, after revealing her night plans she pretty much, ran from the office, not before getting back her authority and demanding her team to get back to work.

Why they were so involved, Lisbon had no idea, but she was sure the three had a bet involving her; now she just had to figure out what exactly had they bet on to decide how many night shifts she would make them take, especially after the inappropriate questions they would certainly ask her on the next day.

To Lisbon that whole conversation made no sense and her agents were seeing things where there were none. Her mood was a result of her job, and she was not acting any different than at any other day in which she didn't have a messy case to deal with.

But now, looking at her reflection, confident about how beautiful she looked, she wasn't holding back the excitement, and she couldn't help but to imagine how the date would go and whether she would wake up with an even bigger smile in the following morning.

She had just ended a long time relationship, but she realized she hadn't felt intimate with someone in a very long time, and that she missed and needed that feeling again. And for helping her out of that empty relationship, Lisbon'd always be grateful to Jane.

She took one last look and left her room. There was still around 20 minutes before Jane arrive to pick her up, she checked her phone in case he had sent a message, but nothing.

Ten minutes past, Lisbon was bored, sitting on her couch looking at the TV without truly focusing on it. She got her phone, checked it again, but Jane hadn't send anything. He was probably on his way, but the minutes were passing so slowly, maybe she could text him. Talking to him could make time go by faster, or maybe would make him get there faster.

"Ready and waiting." She typed just below their last exchanged message.

Lisbon could imagine he reading it, laughing and thinking "Calm down, woman. Almost there." That thought made her smile.

She scrolled up and checked the latest talk they had. She hadn't been able to visit him again since his fight with Vincent, but they talked a little every day via messages, even though it was not Jane's favorite way of communication.

He would ask about her work, she would ask about his day, they already had their inside jokes, and sometimes they seemed so in sync, that it felt like they were already in a relationship. But they never got too personal. If they ever came close, the conversation was cut short, not because they weren't comfortable with each other, it was more like they had an agreement to save the important details for when they met each other, like getting there thought the phone could spoil a perfect first date. That's how she felt at least.

That's why even though Jane didn't felt comfortable with texts, he never called her. He wanted to hear her voice in person, her laugh and her breathing. That way, they would have a lot more to enjoy on their date.

Lisbon wandered thru their texts for so long that those last minutes went by before she realized.

"Ready and waiting for you." she typed again and hit send. Sure she couldn't show she was angry because he was two minutes late, but just because she couldn't show, that doesn't mean she wasn't.

Another ten minutes passed, that was irritating, he should know she was punctual, and he should act accordingly, especially when he seemed so thrilled about that day.

She texted Jane again: "Still no sign of you? Tell me if you're going to be late." She poured a glass of wine for herself, and sat again in front of the TV, with her phone in hand, anxiously waiting for his reply.

Half hour later and nothing.

Half bottle of wine later, she gave up. She tried calling him, it went straight to voice mail. Jane wasn't going to show up and he hadn't even had the decency to come up with an excuse. She filled her glass again, that was going to be a long night.

Lisbon spent the next hour thinking about what could've happened: Something with the car maybe, but he could still have called her, unless his battery was dead… and the more she thought about it, the more excuses she had to make. Maybe he lost track of time, maybe he was working, maybe even sleeping. Maybe he was with another woman.

She imagined every possible scenario, but cops' minds are a dangerous place to wander, and if she was pissed with him for the first five minutes, she was terrified for the rest of the hour. Every crime she had ever solved came back to her. For all Lisbon knew he had been kidnapped, had his organs removed, or was already dead in a ditch on the side of the road.

She went into her room, now feeling pathetic with that dress, and changed into her jeans, she tried to put on her pajamas but she couldn't. She couldn't pretend things were fine and she couldn't go to sleep without knowing he was fine.

She called again: nothing.

Jane was too excited for their date to simple stand her up. It was too hard to believe that.

Lisbon went back to her living room, staring out of the window at every little noise the wind made outside, still hoping for a sign of him. Damn him! "That asshole is fine", she tried to convince herself, but she couldn't stop the flashes that kept appearing on her mind.

She sat quiet thinking about how ridiculous that was and how she was making a mountain out of a molehill. But then again, people never think bad thing will happen to them or the ones they know, and when you least expect, you're calling the CBI to report a murder.

She thought of what could she do from her place, but she had no way to contact any of the other members of the carnival. She only had two options, wait and hope his sorry face would show up on the next day, or go figure out what happened.

"Screw it!"

Lisbon grabbed her car keys, slammed her front door and a moment later she was clutching to the steering wheel, heading to the circus. She wasn't going to be able to get any sleep anyway, if at least she could find him, she wouldn't spend the night worried to death, even if that meant making a fool of herself.

She held the cross around her neck and prayed she was going to find Jane, alive and fine.

Lisbon was a mix of feelings. Sure she wished she was making a big deal out of nothing, but then, what would that mean for her going after him?

She hated to look weak, and that's exactly how she felt when she worried about someone who didn't deserve.

Either way, it wasn't just a personal question, she felt as it was her duty as a cop to make sure nothing had happened. She couldn't just walk away now.

Lisbon arrived at the circus in full cop mode. Until someone, preferably Patrick himself, assure her, he was fine, she would treat his missing as a police matter.

She got out of the car and headed to the entrance, while avoiding the look of the local workers. The circus was having a good night and it was easy to walk around the public without being noticed.

From afar Teresa was able to see Jane's tent wasn't open, as it was expected. She stride to his trailer, there was still the possibility he was there, if not, she would have to question anyone who knew him, she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Jane's airstream's door was unlocked, but no one was inside, Lisbon looked around to see if there were any notes or anything that could lead to where he was, but she could't find anything.

She turned the lights off and stepped outside, an old man was expecting right in front of the door, holding a flashlight.

"You're the cop!" He seemed relieved when he recognized her. Lisbon hadn't realized how suspicious sneakily entering the trailer might have looked, the man clearly thought someone was looting Jane's place.

"You're, Patrick's friend."

"Yes, I'm sorry I was just checking if he was…the door was open."

"It's alright. I was just making sure a visitor hadn't get lost here."

Lisbon nodded and tried to smiled.

"So you're after Patrick?"

Teresa tried her best to tune down the cop tone and get his sympathy. "Do you happen to know where he is? I couldn't find him anywhere and he's not answering his phone."

"Um… Yeah I might know." He seemed unsure whether he could tell her what he knew.

"Look I just want to know if he is fine. We were supposed to meet, when he didn't show up and I thought maybe he had got himself in trouble."

"Well, if that's the case, don't worry. If something bad had happened, we would know. Bad news travel fast, especially among carnies."

Lisbon thought that was all she could expect as an answer, but it was clear that hadn't made her any less worried, and thankfully the man didn't seem comfortable leaving her that way when he had information that could give her some peace of mind.

"I saw him leaving with Little Ann, earlier," the old man continued uncomfortable, "he's probably still with her. If it's urgent you could ask someone for her number."

"This…little Anne? Does she work here too?"

"Patrick didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Well …She's famous around here, used to be one of us but she left the family a couple of years ago. She's still Patrick's friend thought."

Lisbon felt the rage come up in her throat.

"She's a good kid, you know, if you hear anyone saying bad things about her, it's only because she left. I think she had the right to move on and be happy the way she intended, but most folks around here think that's unacceptably, that she betrayed them."

"I'll keep that in mind." "So Ann… Are you sure he's still with her?"

"Pretty sure, but you could always confirm with Pete, he always knows where the boy is."

"Thanks, I'll do that."

Lisbon went straight home. It was better to be angry than worried. But not by much.


	12. Next Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some not so G rated stuff, be advised~ <3

Lisbon woke up with the sound of her phone vibrating over the nightstand. The ID caller showed Minelli's number. She looked at the calendar at the side of her bed, it was Sunday, and it was 6 am. Great.

Less than 15 minutes later, the agent was heading out.

She opened the door and her morning was officially ruined when she saw Jane sleeping on her porch, messy hair and wrinkled dirty clothes, sat against the wall.

She hoped she'd be stealthy enough to pass by him without waking him up, but as soon as she stepped out of the door, his hand reached for her ankle, softly pulling the hem of her pants just to call for attention. His eyes still closed.

"Good Morning," Jane sounded tired but he was grinning presumptuously, as if he had caught her in the act.

Lisbon sighed and got rid of his hold.

"I don't have time for this right now."

"What are you doing up so early?" He stretched himself, acting like their encounter was nothing but casual.

Lisbon rolled her eyes, locked the door and walked away.

"Wait!" Jane got up abruptly, and almost fell back down. "Wait! Come on, Teresa." He hurried after her, still feeling a disoriented.

Lisbon's car was parked just outside her house, Jane walked faster than her and stood in front of the driver's door, blocking her way.

He held his hands up, one of them holding a paper bag, "just listen to me for a second."

Lisbon looked furious but stood still.

"I'm sorry about yesterday."

"I told you, I don't have time for this."

"Just let me explain what happened."

Lisbon folded her arms, expecting a one sentence explanation but that was not what he had in mind.

"Take me to the CBI with you. I'll get a cab back from there."

"No."

"No?" Jane echoed to gain some time but also a little surprised with such reluctance. "I know you went after me last night," he tried again.

She dropped her arms, and after hesitating for some time she confirmed, "Yeah, I did. The idiot here thought you could be in trouble."

She looked away, revealing embarrassment.

Jane stepped closer, "Teresa, you're not an idiot for worrying about others."

"I actually thought you could be dead."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."

"Well, you did."

Avoiding her eyes, he tried, but couldn't think of something else, honest enough to say, except: "I'm sorry."

Lisbon breathed out heavily, feeling tiredness overcome her.

"Hope you managed to get some sleep last night." Jane wished quietly.

"Oh, don't worry about that. You have no idea how exhausting it is, to be this mad at someone!"

Jane love Lisbon's sarcasm and witty humor, and had to admit, was quite fond of the passion she displayed when she was angry. It was a shame he couldn't fully enjoy it when she was using it to protect herself from him.

He looked down and nodded, apologizing again. When his eyes returned to Lisbon, watching her in silence, they had such a tenderness to them, that Teresa didn't know how to act.

"I have to go," her tone changed, less hostile and not as secure as before.

"Okay, I'll stop by later"

"No, you won't. I'll get back late and I'll be tired."

Jane sighed annoyed.

"Alright. Just take this, then," he held the paper bag in front of her. "Please. It's a cup of coffee and a bear claw, I just bought it, I'm sure it's still pretty good. if you don't take it, I'll just have to throw it away."

She thought for a second before reaching for the bag and taking it from his hand. "Fine. Thanks."

He moved away from her car allowing her to enter.

During the last week, Jane wondered a lot about what were his real feelings for Lisbon. If the reason he felt so compelled to go after her, was only because he couldn't have her, and if it was for the same reason that he missed her so much, and why she invaded his thoughts so often.

But as he watched her car go away, he was sure of it, all those feelings were real.

That didn't happen very often with Jane. Once in his entire life. And after feeling numb for so long, that feeling overwhelmed him. He couldn't help but think, she could be the one reason he needed, to change his whole life.

…..

"Oh hey boss, how was last night?"

She looked daggers at him, "We have a case, that's what you should be worried about, Rigsby," Lisbon stormed while hurrying to her office.

The agent's smile disappeared. He waited until Lisbon was out of earshot: "Wow. That's a bad date!"

"What do you think happened?" Van Pelt was staring back at her boss' office trying to see something past the blinds.

"Maybe she's just angry that she has to be here on a Sunday morning."

"Maybe she's angry, you keep creeping on your boss' sex life." Cho interfered, without taking the eyes off the files he was reading.

Rigsby muttered Cho's words, mimicking the agent in an annoying voice.

"No, something happened." Van Pelt, said thoughtfully, ignoring the other two.

"Still talking?" Lisbon startled everyone, leaving her office with the murder files in one hand and half bear claw in the other. "Hurry up you two. Van Pelt, you come with me."

"Right, boss!" The red haired got up and, tried to put everything she thought she could need inside her folder.

Rigsby looked confusedly at the other agent: "hurry up with what?" he whispered.

Cho continued to look at the files, unfazed: "I don't know. Why don't you ask?"

"You ask," he hissed. "And what happened to her coffee? Did she swallow the cup?"

"Van Pelt!" Lisbon shouted when the elevator opened.

"On my way, boss." The agent gave up her folder and hurried to the elevator.

"Good luck." Van Pelt heard Rigsby on her way out.

….

"Seriously?" Lisbon stopped in front of Jane. The psychic was sitting on the steps that lead to her porch.

He got up, excited, "I'll make you dinner," and looked at the grocery bags in his hands.

Teresa closed her eyes, shook her head, and went to unlock the front door, thinking it would be easier to ignore him if he was locked outside, but as soon as the door was open, Jane slipped past her.

"Thank you. Excuse me," he went straight to her kitchen

Lisbon stood on the same place, confused.

"What the hell, Patrick? I'm tired, I don't want to talk right now."

"Who said anything about talking? I know you went to bed starving, yesterday; I'll try to make up for it."

He went behind the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, and proceeded to place the plastic bags there. Lisbon was still holding the front door open.

"Come on, go ahead." Jane said while opening the kitchen cabinets to get what he'd need, "take your shower and when you're done, dinner will be ready, and I'll leave you alone."

The idea of -probably good- food, that she wouldn't have to cook or wait to arrive was more than tempting, Lisbon was just not entirely comfortable with leaving Jane unsupervised.

She closed the door and watched him.

"Don't worry," Jane said with a grin, "I know I was right about everything I said about your place, I won't brag. Nice plant, by the way."

She frowned, "I just don't want you messing around with all of my stuff."

"I wouldn't do that."

She mocked, "Yeah, right."

"Fine, maybe under different circumstances, but not today. I promise I won't leave the kitchen area." He stopped what he was doing and gazed at her: "I stood in front of your place for hours, waiting for you, when I could easily have picked the lock."

Lisbon snorted, "oh wow, do you want a prize for acting like normal person?"

"Just sayin'." He shrugged and went back to cut tomatoes, avoiding Lisbon.

She gave up and hurried upstairs. She took a long shower while doing her best to ignore Jane was in her kitchen.

Lisbon knew he deserved a chance to explain what had happened, but she was exhausted and it was his fault, that should be enough to justify her behavior.

She left the bathroom wearing a towel, and went through her closet looking for something appropriated for the occasion. That meant something she'd never wear on a date, that way making her intentions clear.

She decided to go with her ancient sweatpants and a large hooded sweatshirt, that used to be her brother's.

The smell coming from the kitchen was amazing. Familiar and nostalgic, somehow. Lisbon walked downstairs thinking she was incognito, and watched her personal chef by the stove.

Jane turned to look at her, about to say something but couldn't complete his sentence.

"What are you snickering about?" Lisbon looked down, confused.

"Nothing. Just wondering if all of that is just for me."

He loved seeing her so casual, sloppy even, like they had gained an intimacy with that, but Lisbon's clear intentions when choosing those clothes was more than amusing to someone who could read her so well.

She sat on the stool behind the counter. "I like to wear comfortable clothes when I'm home, alone."

"I bet you don't even remember the last time you wore those. If ever."

She was about to protest when Jane turned around with a spoon and walked up to her. "See if it's enough salt."

Lisbon was taken by surprise, she opened her mouth in a reflex and tasted the sauce.

"Hm." She briefly fanned her face with her mouth open, trying to cool her tongue.

"Sorry. Too hot?"

She denied it with her head. "It's fine."

"And how does it taste?"

"It's good."

"Just good?"

"It's spaghetti, Patrick. It's good," incredibly good, but she was too angry to admit that.

Jane made a disconcerting sound and went back to the stove. "I could think of a few other dishes but they'd take too long to prepare."

"I didn't say it was bad, did I?"

He smirked.

"Didn't you say, that when I get out of the shower it would be ready?"

"Patience, woman. I thought you'd take longer in the shower."

"If I took any longer I'd have dried LA's water reservoir."

"Just 5 more minutes."

Lisbon unintentionally yawned as an answer.

"So," he licked his finger and added more salt to his recipe, "why did you have to go to work today?"

She half shrugged.

"Do you prefer 5 minutes of awkward silence?"

"Fine. A judge was murdered."

"Oh. That's big. Do you need any help with it? I could-"

"We solved it." Lisbon smiled with pride, captivating Jane.

"In one day?"

"We got a confession from his wife."

"The wife of a judge? That's interesting."

"Not really. Women killing their romantic partners is pretty common." Lisbon continued, teasingly, "and I'm not saying she was right, but I'm sure she had good reasons for it."

Jane laughed to himself, "can't say I didn't see that one coming..."

He turned off the stove, and look at Lisbon with a triumphantly expression, "et voilà!"

His enthusiasm warmed Lisbon up. "You seem awfully confident about your cooking skills."

"I am!" He took off Lisbon's red apron, it was hard to take him serious while he was wearing it, and Lisbon was more than glad to see him, in his perfect fitting t-shirt again.

"Now go take a seat by your table, I'll be right there."

Lisbon got up excited, "I can make my own plate."

"Nope." He held her gently by the shoulder and turned her around, "Your kitchen is all mine tonight."

"Fine." She went unwillingly to the table, "but don't leave me waiting, I'm starving."

"As you wish."

"I mean it; I'm already seeing you as a huge steak."

"I'm sure I'd be delicious, but I don't really feel like being eaten alive today." He turned around with a smirk, "Unless…"

"Don't."

"Alright. Alright."

Lisbon watched Jane across the room, from where she was seating, it seemed he was using herbs on her plate and she was sure he hadn't found them on her kitchen. As far as she knew, all she had around was salt and sugar, the fridge held a carton of milk, and two beers.

She was even leaving earlier to work so she could drink coffee at the CBI. She needed to go grocery shopping urgently.

"I'm assuming that's not poisonous."

"Isn't everything?"

"I certainly hope not."

"You just have to know the right amount. Like everything in life."

"Oh-kay. I think."

"Alright," he looked at Lisbon, "this look good enough."

"Were you just decorating it?" Lisbon complained mockingly, "I just told you I'm starving."

"Of course not, it also adds a different flavor to it… or maybe it's the smell." Jane sniffed the plate, "I think. Probably. You'll find out." He smiled at her confusion.

"Now, the wine."

"You brought wine?"

"Of course."

She was a bit impressed with all his arrangements.

A moment later Jane was at the table with her plate, he filled her glass with wine and stood still, looking at her. "Bon appetite."

"Are you just going to stand there, watching me?"

"I want to know if it's good, you know, before you kick me out."

Lisbon looked at him unimpressed. "Sit."

"Alright." He got a chair and sat at the corner of the table, next to her.

She twirled spaghetti round her fork, "my 8-year-old self would kill for this."

"I hope you'll enjoy it just as much today."

"Hm," she closed her eyes appreciating

"Good?" Jane asked with a childlike expression of expectation.

"It's great…" she looked mesmerized, "Patrick I swear, it's exactly how my mother used to make."

Jane look relieved, "I sure hope so."

"It is! – Wait, what do you mean, you 'hope so'?"

"It's her recipe."

Lisbon shook her head, and questioned again, "what do you mean?"

"I asked Annie."

She looked clueless. "I still don't follow."

Jane looked at her as if it obvious. "I talked to your niece a few days ago. I asked her to find out what was your favorite dish as a kid. She not only found out what it was, but she also sent me this."

He handed his phone to Lisbon.

"This is from my mother's recipe book…How?"

Lisbon stared at the photo, and Jane filled the silence with a little explanation, "Your brother took Annie with him to the house where you grew up, he probably told you that."

"He did."

"Annie found the book along with other belongings from your parents."

"I remember this book. Of course I do, she was so proud of it… but I had never seen the recipes, it's her handwriting, Patrick." The excitement in her voice touched Jane.

"It's says: 'for my little Teresa.'" They said together.

"She dedicated a recipe for each one of you, including your father."

A tear fell down her cheek and she wiped it away, quickly.

"So... Annie has a phone? You talk to each other?"

"That's what you're focusing on?"

Lisbon laughed, trying to hide her misty eyes, surprised with herself, and feeling a little pathetic for getting so emotional over that little gesture.

"I'm…confused."

"What's so confusing about it?"

"Why would you do this?"

"I was hoping you would see it as a romantic gesture, I hope it wasn't too intrusive."

"No, of course not. It's just… I wasn't expecting this."

"Well, that's how a surprise works."

She laughed quietly again, cleaning another tear.

"I know you miss her," Jane said softly, "I thought bringing back a memory like this would be nice." His teeth lightly gnawed on his lower lip nervously.

Lisbon smiled sincerely at him, "thank you."

He leaned in closer to her, as close as the table would allow, "it's no big deal."

"I don't doubt that's true for you. You're certainly, a "big gesture", kind of guy."

Jane smiled faintly, he murmured only for her ears, "It's not like that, Teresa. This is not Patrick Jane the showman, showing off. It's just me, the man in front of you, doing whatever he can to see your smile." His eyes followed hers when she tried to look away.

Lisbon felt her cheeks getting red, "You're a smooth talker, mister."

He laughed shyly.

"I just meant, I'm very impressed. Thank you, this means a lot." She caressed his arm lightly.

"I was just trying to redeem myself, a little bit."

That seemed to remind her of why Jane was there in the first place.

She moved uneasily in her seat, getting some distance between them. "Patrick, I'm very moved by this, but it doesn't erase last night. Especially when I don't know how much it means to you, or if it's just another…"

"You're right." Jane interrupted her. "It doesn't erase anything, but I hope that it proves that I care. I was really looking forward for last night, Teresa. I didn't just decide not to come, or found something better to do."

"Then what happened?"

"I… I was helping a friend and end up in the middle of nowhere. I tried calling you but I had no signal and I couldn't find any other way to get in touch with you. It took me so long to get here you were already sleeping when I arrived."

"No signal? That's your excuse?"

"That's what happened, Teresa."

"I could believe it if it was from anyone else but you. You could've found a way."

"Well, thank you, but I didn't. I can tell you the whole story if you want to, but I guarantee it wasn't a choice not to show up last night."

"Alright, tell me the whole story. I'm all ears."

"Okay, I will."

Lisbon raised her eyebrows impatiently, "so?"

"Before that..."

"Yeah?"

"Is this really good? Can I taste it?"

She hesitated but his smile won her over.

"Yeah, sure", she gave him her fork and waited for his opinion.

"Mmm." Jane made exaggerated sounds of pleasure while eating.

"Right? It's so good."

"I'm so good."

Lisbon stole her fork back. "And very modest, as usual."

"You're not impressed by modesty, Teresa."

She answered with such confidence that surprised him, "is this what you're trying to do? Impress me?"

He let a smirk cross his lips, matching Lisbon's, "Of course. What else?"

"Good to know," she answered cheery, "now, go fix yourself a plate. This one's mine."

Jane caught Lisbon impatiently glancing at him during the whole dinner.

When he started to watch her without even trying to hide, and with a silly smile from ear to ear, Lisbon pretended to be paying full attention to her plate, until she couldn't hold it anymore.

"What?"

"I missed you." Jane stated with the same smile, surprised by that realization.

For someone who was constantly moving, Jane had learned to never get attached to the places and people he met along the way, and it had never been a problem before. He didn't want to analyze what that meant, the simple fact that Teresa meant that much to him, was exciting.

"You missed me?" Lisbon questioned with a wry smile, that Jane could tell was dripping curiosity. It was starting to bother him, that she never took him serious when he was trying to say just how she meant to him.

"Of course I did. Last time we saw each other things were going so well, and then we spent a whole week just texting."

"Last time we saw each other, you had been beaten up by my ex, I'm not sure things were going so good."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do." Her voice was sweet and barely audible as she held his gaze. She looked away and continued, in a not so friendly tone, "but if you missed me so much you should've showed up last night."

Jane rolled his eyes, "alright, let's do this. What did you hear when you went after me last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you were there, but I don't know what you were told."

"Just that you weren't around."

He grinned, "that's it? No one mentioned where was I or who was I with?"

She stared at him, a frown forming, "The man I talked to said maybe you could be with a friend."

"Ann?"

"Little Ann." If Lisbon was trying to hide her irritation she failed miserably. "And when he mentioned her, he also said, 'didn't Patrick tell you?' as if there was something I needed to know about this woman."

Lisbon drank from her wine, watching Jane beaming at her. "What is it now?"

"Are you jealous?"

"No I'm not jealous!" she huffed and left the table to take their plates to the sink.

"No even, a little bit?" He followed her, chuckling.

Lisbon rested against the kitchen cabinet. "No, I'm not."

"Okay," he stood in front of her, "that's probably a good thing after you made it clear this relationship is just for fun, you wouldn't want this to get complicated."

"I made it clear? I might have said I didn't want anything serious right now, but you're the one leaving in a few weeks. We both know that whatever this is, it won't get much further. Don't turn this on me."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"And that also doesn't mean I will accept to go out with you, while you're involved with someone else."

"I know that. I'm not involved with anyone. No one but you, Teresa."

"Okay." She said faintly, gathering her next words, "can I ask who she was?"

"A friend."

"Just a friend?"

"She used to be more than a friend but, you and I, we haven't had the time to discuss our past yet, have we? You can't get mad at me for that."

"You're right, I can't get mad at you for that, but I can get mad at you for standing me up."

"…Yes-"

"For not calling or answering me, for not sending me a text and for leaving me worried, waiting for your sorry ass, for the whole night."

"Well, yeah, for those I suppose you can." He joined Lisbon, resting against the cabinet and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Is she the reason you didn't show up last night?"

He sighed loudly, "Before I answer that, I should probably start from the beginning. Be warned, it's a dull story because that's how the truth usually is."

Lisbon huffed. "I need to seat down."

She went back to the living room and sat with her side against the back of the couch to face Jane, one hand holding her head the other one holding the glass of wine he had just refilled for her.

"Alright. Firstly, I don't think the man you talked to, told you that Ann is pregnant, did he?"

Lisbon's eyes widened.

"Is not mine, Teresa."

"Are you sure?" The question jumped out of her mouth before she could stop.

"Pretty sure," he grinned. "But she is nine months pregnant, and yesterday she asked me to take her, to talk to her parents."

"Why?"

"Her family were carnies too, now they have their own business, but when Ann left the circus, and ignored her family's "legacy" they cut off their relationship with her."

"They wouldn't talk to her because she left the circus?"

"You're either with us, or you're not." He seemed to be reciting that line after hearing it many times.

"You've told me something like that before."

"Anyway, with the baby coming she wanted to try a reconciliation, and she needed a friend to take her there, someone who was a carny too, that understood her situation, and I was pretty much the only one left."

Lisbon's eyes drift away from his.

"I know how it sounds, Teresa, but look, until a couple of years back, everybody she knew was from the circus, when she left everybody turned their backs on her. I'm one of the very few who stood by her side, or at least understands her."

Timidly, "what about the father of her child?"

"Ann hadn't seen him in days, they had a disagreement and she couldn't locate him."

Jane could see that only raised more questions, but she remained in silence, and he continued, "So I drove her there with Pete's car. Her family lives in a mansion in the middle of nowhere, they think it adds to the mystery, I guess. They are so deep into their lie that they might actually believe it. People go there from all over the country, looking from love in a bottle, to a cure for incurable diseases."

"That's horrible. Their whole lives revolve around a farce."

"I know."

Lisbon opened her mouth and closed again, it was too late to take it back, or to fix it.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean."

"Don't be, it's okay. And you're right."

She swallowed, uncomfortable, although Jane didn't seem to mind her comment.

"So what happened?" her tone was shy.

"Things went exactly how I expected it would be, how we both expected it to be: a complete disaster."

"If you knew it was going to be a disaster, why did you take her there?"

"I was just doing her a favor. Going there was her choice, she had to try."

Jane perceived a strange flicker of insecurity in Lisbon's eyes, but decided to continue.

"Anyway, Ann got in a fight with her father, suddenly she felt sick, dizzy, and she was scared there was something wrong with her baby."

"Oh my god."

"Long story short, her mother called a doctor and she had to stay there to rest."

"So you left her there?"

"I had to."

"What about her father?"

"They were fine when I left. I'm sure he will play nice for now. He wants a relationship with his grandson, raise him to be part of the family business, and Ann will play along while it is convenient for her."

Lisbon was surprised with the harsh tone he used to talk about the girl.

"Okay…So when you left her there, it was already late and you had forgotten to call me." It sounded like a question.

"Of course not. Everything was according to plan, I was just in time to get back for our date. But this is the part where it gets embarrassing and I don't resemble the man with a bright mind you know me for."

"'Bright mind?' She scoffed.

"Remember before, when I said Ann's family lives in the middle of nowhere?"

"Let me guess, the car broke down and you had no signal to call anyone."

"Something like that."

Lisbon frowned inquisitively.

"I was out of gas."

"Seriously? what did you do?"

"I was halfway between the Braddock's' place and the city, about fifteen miles from anywhere. It wouldn't matter which way I'd go, so I headed straight to your place. Of course my phone died before I could get any signal, and It took me over three hours to finally find someone on the road to give me a ride. They lent me their phone, I called a taxi, and that's it, I spent the rest of the night sleeping on your porch."

"You what? You were here the whole night until I got up?"

"Well I went to buy you that cup of coffee in the morning, thought it would be safer to talk to you after your daily dose of caffeine, but other than that, yes, I was here the whole time."

"Why didn't you just knock on my door and let me know you were here?"

"You wouldn't listen to me, and honestly I was just too tired to get in a discussion."

"You don't know that. You don't know what I would do."

"Maybe, but I was pretty sure you'd kick me out."

She shook her head and sighed.

"Okay, I know, looking back now, it wasn't the smartest idea."

"No, it wasn't. And how'd you know I went looking for you at the circus if you hadn't talk to anyone there?"

"I wasn't entirely sure but I guessed you had."

"You guessed?"

"Not that hard. Your car was parked outside, and I'm sure you were worried when I didn't show up. After calling me a few times, the only thing you could've done was to look for me where I usually am."

"I was sure of it in the morning, of course. Instead of being relieved that I was okay, you were all grumpy."

"Grumpy?" Lisbon repeated with a frown.

"Well, I could use a different word but I don't think you would like."

She squinted at him. "Maybe I just didn't care."

"That wouldn't suit you, saint Teresa."

"Hm." Lisbon continued to stare at him annoyed, her lips pursed in a small pout.

"You weren't wrong to worry;" Jane had his arm extended along the back of the couch, occasionally stroking Lisbon's arm through the sleeve of her sweater. "I was alone in the middle of nowhere, at night. All sort of things could've happened to me."

"But it didn't."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"I guess." Lisbon shrugged and Jane gave a short exhaled laugh.

"That's it, Teresa. I could come up with a lie that would make such a better story, you know that, that's what I do for a living, but I'm just telling you the truth, it makes me look like a complete idiot, and it might not be very convincing, I know, but it's the truth."

Lisbon stared at Jane, trying to process his story. It should be much easier to accept it, knowing her relationship with him would never turn into something serious, but it truly bothered her, that Ann could mean something else to him.

"I take it that Ann's fine, now."

"I'm sure she is."

"You said she's from your past, so she's an ex-girlfriend?"

She saw him nervously fidgeting with his fingers, "a little more than that, actually."

"What is it?"

"The ring you found on my trailer the other day."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Did she say 'no'?"

"She said 'yes', actually. But she thought that with the proposal I was also asking her to move out with me. To get as far from that life as we could."

"And you didn't want to."

"Wrong again, I agreed to it."

"Then what happened?"

"I needed time. My father was sick, I wanted to be there for his last day. Believe me, it was not because he deserved or because I had any consideration for him. There was no noble feeling involved, but I needed that." He breathed out heavily, "anyway, Ann left with the promise that in a month I would go after her and we would continue with our plans. And, hm, a month and a week later, I found her, and she had met someone else."

"Wow" Lisbon silently mouthed.

"Yep." Jane stared at the empty glass in his hand.

"But what? was she cheating on you, had she given up on the wedding and just forgot to tell you?"

"Both, neither. She never believed I could leave that life. Later she told me she didn't have the heart to say it, but the minute she stepped out of the circus without me, that was the end for us."

"I can't believe she'd do that to you." Lisbon looked heartbroken for Jane.

In her soft green eyes, he could see her eagerness to comfort him.

"For her, choosing to stay for my father was just an excuse because I couldn't give up on the con life, and my "psychic persona". To be honest I think she's right."

"But you did leave. You went after her."

"But for how long? In Ann's words, if I had left with her, I would just find another way back into that life.

"Do you really believe that?"

"Maybe. I mean, that's the only life I know, and to be honest, I was very different back then, and I'm not sure it was love the reason I asked her to marry me. But it doesn't matter now. She didn't think I was worth that bet. And it was a big bet, it was her life, after all. I can't blame her for it."

Lisbon looked tenderly at him, "I'm sorry, Patrick."

"Don't be, it was better this way."

She nodded thoughtfully, and drank the last sip from her glass.

"You almost married her." She said after a few seconds, almost afraid to acknowledge the significance of that.

"We never get that close to it, actually."

"But you asked her to be your wife, she was important to you."

He sighed and sunk on the couch, "You knew she was part of my past. Does that change anything?"

"It does, doesn't it? After what she did to you and you still went out of your way just to make her a favor? That's… something."

"I wasn't exaggerating when I said I was the only one left on her side."

"That's the thing. After everything, can you really be friends?"

"It's not like that. I told you, I don't blame her, or hate her. But 'friends' is not a good word for our relationship. I think I just want her to have a good life."

"Is that how she feels, too?"

"It doesn't matter how she feels. I'm not available."

"So if she comes back-"

"She won't." Jane sat up straight again, "Teresa," he murmured her name and edged closer to her.

The proximity made Lisbon jittery. She was very much aware that there wasn't a table between them, this time.

He licked his lips, and continued, no louder than a whisper, "can we talk about us now?"

"Us?" Her eyes widened.

"I told you what happened yesterday, do you believe in me?"

She held back for a second, before her face broke into a smile.

"I doubt it was 15 miles."

"I was being modest."

"Sure." She giggled.

"So we're good?"

"Yeah, We're good."

Jane smiled relieved, "I'm glad that's dealt with. I've never went through so much trouble for a date before."

"Hey!" Lisbon protested, hitting him playfully.

He laughed, and reached for her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. He stared at her with that intensity that made Lisbon lose her way, especially when his eyes darted down to her lips.

Jane started, anxiously, "I hm, I should probably go. I don't want to keep you from sleeping, again."

"Just what a girl wants to hear."

He smiled shyly. "Do you want me stay?"

She answered after some hesitation, "you're right, I should get some sleep. I'm dead tired."

Jane nodded slowly, pursing his lips.

Lisbon added quickly, "We can see each other tomorrow, right?"

"Of course."

"You know, after our first encounter, I didn't think you'd be the kind of person to get nervous on a date. More like, extremely cocky."

Jane agreed with his head, smiling awkwardly.

Lisbon grinned, "So I wasn't wrong."

"Well, I guess that's how you could usually describe me." He tilted his head, hesitant, "But uhm, I always get a little nervous when I'm too close to you."

"So it's only with me?" She asked with a playful smile.

"It is; guess I'm afraid to mess this up. But I can overcome it." He held her tight just above the knee, and set her legs on his lap and sliding her even closer to him.

Lisbon laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck to not fall back. They locked eyes, sharing that intimate excitement, and the hint of nervousness that came with it.

Teresa caressed Jane's nape before reaching up to clutch his hair, bringing his face closer. His forehead was touching hers, and their mouths were no more than a few inches apart.

"So what now?" she asked with an inviting smile.

"Now? it's your turn, agent Lisbon."

Lisbon smile grew broader.

She used her hands on Jane's neck to bring his mouth to hers. His lips felt warm and soft. The tender touch of their mouths suddenly escalated into a hungry and desperate. Jane responded eagerly, angling his mouth and firmly pressing himself against her.

His tongue touched her lips making Lisbon's entire body shiver. She opened her mouth to him, moaning, to the feel of Jane exploring, and savoring her.

His hand traveled from her thigh to her hip, as his fingers found their way beneath her sweater, touching the smooth skin of her back.

Lisbon succumbed to the passion of the moment. She unsuccessfully tried to take off his shirt, needing to see more of him, but it was hard to have any control over her movements.

As they kissed, Jane gently pushed Lisbon down, and when she noticed, her head was resting on the armrest of the couch, and Jane was over her.

His mouth touched everywhere, he nibbled her lip, and sucked her earlobe, before spending sometime on her neck. It was teasing, to the point of driving her mad.

Lisbon fingers went from caressing his neck, to inside his t-shirt. Her nails scratched his back, before she pushed her hands down inside his jeans and gripped his ass. Jane jumped.

"Ah," he groaned in her ear. He captured her pulse, and held her arms above her head.

"I always knew you had a thing for my ass."

Lisbon snickered. "Let go of my arms."

"Uh-uh..." he murmured against her neck and continued to place kisses there, Lisbon threw her head back even more, giving him space.

"Patrick!" She cried, but his movements over her was knocking out her ability to think. His whole body was rubbing against hers.

Lisbon cursed Jane for holding her hands. All she wanted was to touch him, stroke him. She needed more, she needed to feel Jane on every part of her. She was biting her lip to not cry out.

Jane trembled when Lisbon moaned loudly and arched her back, feeling his erection pressing against her.

"Damn it, Patrick!"

She clenched her legs around him, desperate for more contact, a growl escaped Jane's throat and he let go of her arms.

Before she could use her now free hands, Jane went down her body.

Lisbon's sweater had rolled up to her breasts, exposing her belly. Jane trailed down her stomach, kissing and nibbling, while she made a mess with his hair.

Suddenly Jane lifted his head, and got on his knees, between Lisbon's legs. Breathless.

Impatiently, Lisbon went to unbutton his pants, but he held her hands once again.

She looked at him confused.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" He was panting, and the words demanded too much to come out. He lowered himself and kissed her softly. "It's just," he breathed deeply, "you said you wanted to wait."

"I have clearly changed my mind!"

His shoulders shook, as he laughed without a sound, in between gasps for air. He was looking all messy, and a bead of sweat was dripping down his neck.

Lisbon watched Jane breathing heavily over her, with the biggest grin on his face.

Had that "make out session" really only lasted a few minutes? She had lost herself in the moment, and was feeling disoriented.

"My phone." He said out of nowhere.

"What?"

Jane reached for his back pocket, and held his vibrating phone in front of her.

"I'm sorry," he said to Lisbon, and waited a couple of seconds to recompose himself, before answering,

"Pete?" Jane played with the waistband cord of Lisbon's sweatpants, while listening to his friend. She didn't know whether to hit him, or laugh of that situation.

"Okay, Pete. I know, I'll be right there."

He hung off the phone, and put it back in his pocket. When he looked down at Lisbon, she was glancing furiously at him. Again.

"Teresa, I'm sorry. I have to go help Pete with his car."

"Now?"

"I'll compensate tomorrow, I promise." He got up and went to sat at the edge of the sofa, close to Lisbon's head, to put his shoes on. He couldn't even remember when had taken them off.

"You did this on purpose. You asked him to call."

"I didn't ask," he looked at her like that was absurd, "but yes, I thought he might call. He said he would."

"You don't want to spend the night here?"

"I can't think of a more tempting offer. You saw how enthusiastic I was."

Her eyes darted down, "I think you still are."

He looked away from her, a little embarrassed, and shook his head, with a simper, dismissing her comment.

"I just think you were right, we should wait until tomorrow, it'll be better. We won't spend half the night talking about the past and the exes."

"I did not even remember what we were talking about."

He chuckled. "I didn't mean to tease, or frustrate you. I had no idea our first kiss would lead to that."

Lisbon laughed. "Damn you, for having so much self-control."

"You have no idea," he caressed her face, "Please, don't be mad at me, not for this."

"Fine." She answered with no enthusiasm.

"Thank you." Jane pecked her lips and got up.

Lisbon sat on the couch, watching him with interest, "How did you get here? Do you want me to take you back?"

He smirked, "alone in a car with you? I don't trust your intensions, Agent Lisbon."

She lifted her eyebrow at him.

"Don't worry, I can get back on my own."

"Alright."

An awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds while Jane continued to fix his shirt and hair. He had a smug look on his face while Lisbon watched him. Her lips were curled up in a seductive smile, her red cheeks betraying her.

"Somehow you look really good in that sweater that's three times your size."

"You really liked it? I was planning on wearing something different tomorrow, but if you like it so much..."

Jane offered a hand, she accepted it and got up.

"It's a shame the feds don't have uniform."

"So you like a lady in uniform, hm?" she teased, biting her lip temptingly

He grinned somewhat embarrassed, and Lisbon giggled. She couldn't tell what was going through his head, but she enjoyed that look.

"Take me to the door?"

"Sure."

At her balcony, they kissed again. Slower this time. He held her tight, she relaxed under his touch, and became comfortable in his embrace.

Lisbon always felt like being around Jane, turned her into a teenager again. Making her act silly, and get flustered when he looked at her tenderly, or seductively.

It was like a high school girl getting the attention of her unattainable crush. She thought that would change after their first date, first kiss, that it'd feel more real, but that was not the result of that night.

She was really loving this "summer love" thing. Lisbon had never done something like that before, she had a few 'one night stands' before, but getting herself involved in a relationship with an expiration date, was a first.

She couldn't find a place for him in her life, and the same was true for Jane, they had no future, but that was half the fun of it. Her time with him would be short, but Jane was so much more than a fling. He was special, and Lisbon thought to herself, if things were different, she could really fall for him.

She knew the departure would be painful, but instead of worrying about the imminent goodbye, she was going to enjoy every moment they had. He would be a very fond memory in the future, and until he had to go, he would be hers.

...

I hope I didn't totally lose the characters on this one. And as always really hope you enjoyed.

(I finished writing this at 4am, so I might have to edit it later)


	13. The Lisbon Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end is near~

Jane and Lisbon were getting back from their third official date: dinner at a small restaurant only three blocks away from her house.

"Do you want me to drop you off at the circus or do you want to go to my place…for tea?"

"Tea?" The quirk at the corner of Jane's lips deepened, "Are we still calling it that?"

"Shush," she smiled, showing a little red on her cheeks. "I mean it. I bought a box from the one you like."

He tilted his head, "you did?" his mouth hung half open in surprise.

"Yep."

"Thank you," his was voice sweet.

"What?" Lisbon laughed shyly, detecting his eyes still on her. She quickly directed her attention from the road to look at him, "If you're going to sleep at my place for the next few days I should have a little stock for you, right?"

He stared down, "about that-"

Jane was cut short by Lisbon's phone ringing. She parked the car in front of her place and reached for it in her back pocket.

The name on the screen read 'Stan'.

"It's okay, answer it."

She pondering about questioning what Jane was about to say but after a second decided to pick up her phone, "Hey Stan."

Jane got the keys to Lisbon's place and showed it to her before leaving the car to give her some privacy.

It was the first time Jane could pay attention to the small details of her house. He went through her CDs, and even some vinyl he bet were from her mother. She had a few books untouched, he guessed Lisbon preferred to read work reports on her free time.

He heard the front door close, Lisbon was watching him with curiosity.

He turned back to the wall and pointed to a paint hanging there, "Is this yours?"

"No, they are from the original tenants."

"Thought so."

"What is this fascination you have with my place?"

He continued to inspect the things on her shelf, "I told you. I always lived in an Airstream and I see it more like a storage room than anything else. I think it's amazing how much a house becomes a part of whoever lives in it, and the roots keeping them from moving."

"While the Airstream represents your means to always leave and move on."

He turned around and stepped closer to her, "something to that effect."

Lisbon realized she hadn't felt that happy and carefree in a long time. She tried to hide the nervousness she still felt when Jane was close, that good nervous, filled with excitement.

"I understand your curiosity, but my house is really not that amazing."

"It is to me. Not the house itself, but rather all the things I can find out about you by taking a closer look at it."

Unable to hold his look, she pointed to the kitchen with her chin: "Do you want some tea?"

"Sure," the damn smirk on his face making fun of her red cheeks.

Jane made his tea himself, claiming he was the only one who knew how. Lisbon refused to get a cup so she sat in front of him, watching him blow the hot liquid inside the teacup.

"Do you think today I undid the bad impression you left of me to your team?"

"I left?" Lisbon questioned with a laugh.

"Of course. They were all mad at me for making them work with Lisbon The Hulk. Apparently, our first non-date was the reason."

"Call me 'Lisbon The Hulk' again and you will meet her."

"Noted."

The furious glare was gone and a persistent smile lighted up her features, "I really liked having lunch with you. Thank you for showing up today."

"You didn't appear to be so cheerful when you first saw me."

"I- I was surprised, that's all."

Jane stared at her over his teacup.

"You know I try to keep my private life, private," Lisbon continued.

"I know."

"So you know why it's weird having you there. But it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you went anyway."

She bit her lip shyly, "you got me in a really good mood, I'm sure my team forgave you," she quickly amended, tuning down the flirtatious tone, "I'm sure Cho did. Great tip you gave him about the case."

"That worked?" he sounded as much surprised as lively.

"I don't know how, but it did. You're really good at this."

He looked exceptionally satisfied with himself.

After pondering if she should, Lisbon finally asked:

"What were you going to say back then?"

"When?"

"You know. When I said I should have a stock of tea since you'll be sleeping here, and you said 'about that…'"

"Hm," he swallowed the tea and pressed his lips together, "I don't know, I don't remember."

"Really? Because it sounded important."

"It was nothing, Teresa."

"Okay…," she dropped the matter, clearly unsatisfied with his answer.

Jane went to wash the teacup in the sink; when he came back Lisbon was in front of her bookcase.

He wrapped her arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder. Even now, the smallest touches made her skin burn.

His lips caressed her ear, "I'm pretty sure I put everything back in its place."

"You did," she managed to answer with a straight face.

"Hey." he turned Lisbon around.

"We good?"

"Yeah."

He leaned down for a kiss, stopping right before touching her lips.

The adoration in his eyes made her drop any resistance she was trying to build. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him down for the kiss.

The last thing Lisbon wanted, was to complicate her life. She made an effort not to consider how he affected her. That desired mixed with something else. A feeling that had too much power over her. Lisbon would push it back and ignored it until they were gone.

She let the worries behind and succumbed to the passion of the moment.

…

Lisbon woke up in the middle of the night, just for enough time to turn herself around, but for the short time she opened her eyes she was able to see Jane sitting at the edge of the bed. She forced her eyes to keep open and watched him for a minute.

"Patrick? What are you doing?"

"Hm?" He turned around, a dim light coming from the window allowed him to see her expression. "Nothing." His voice was quiet and somber.

"Is something keeping you awake?"

She turned on the light by the side of her bed before moving to sit right behind Jane. She rested her chin on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him, resting her hands on his chest and caressing him over his t-shirt.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Patrick, talk to me."

Her lips brushed against his nape, Jane closed his eyes briefly enjoying the sensation.

"I don't think I should sleep here."

"You've slept here for the past three nights. Where is this coming from?"

"Yes, I know." He exhaled loudly, "But it's becoming a habit that is going to be hard to break. Knowing this is not going to last for long…I don't want to make it harder."

Lisbon looked at the floor, only now noticing he had gathered his pants and shoes close to him on the floor, and his wallet was in his hand.

"Were you about to leave?"

"Teresa-"

"Oh Great." She left him and went back to her side of the bed.

"I wasn't going to leave without talking to you first."

She fixed her pillow and blanket, getting ready to lie down.

"I didn't mean to turn this into a discussion, I thought keeping some distance would be better for both of us."

"Do whatever you want, Patrick." she lay down and turned off the light, "don't forget to close the door."

"Do you want me to go?" his voice was the only sound in the dark room.

"I want to sleep."

Luckily she couldn't see him rolling his eyes.

"Teresa, sleeping here means waking up here, and becoming part of each other's routine."

"So? I know what this is Patrick. I'm not expecting anything else from you just because you're sleeping here. You don't need to run away in the middle of the night."

"I wasn't going to just leave. I swear."

She felt his warm breath hitting her nape followed by his arm wrapping around her.

"I don't want to fight," he kissed her neck daintily.

She susurrated, "if you wanted to keep a distance why did you show up for lunch at my work?"

He rested his forehead against her back with a groan.

"And why are you always here when I come back home?"

"Because I'm an idiot". He whispered so low, that Lisbon wasn't sure if he had actually said that or she had imagined.

Now she could only hear his heavy breathing and feel the little soft touch of his lips on her back.

"How are we going to enjoy what we have if we keep thinking about the end of it all the time?" Lisbon placated gently.

Hypocrite. As though she wasn't doing the same. Building a protective wall around her and ignoring how she felt, even containing herself around him to avoid showing too much, getting too involved.

She turned around in his arms.

"It's going to be hard anyway. I know you're worried about me," -at that remark, Jane raised his eyes, and watched her finish that sentence with a faint frown between his eyes- "But I'm going to be okay, I promise. I'll miss you, but I've known what this is from the beginning, I'm not expecting more from it."

Jane hid his disappointment and even his anger; Lisbon didn't even consider that he was thinking about himself. About how hard it would be for him to let go of her.

"Okay," he answered faintly, "You're right."

She stared at him, that worried expression of his, a frown growing between her own eyes now, Lisbon bit her lip, and said: "Unless," she started with a smirk, avoiding the seriousness of the question, "you're worried about creating roots here, too? Afraid you might wish to change your Airstream for an amazing house like mine?"

Jane watched her like he was considering, and pondering her question.

Lisbon was so keen on preparing herself to a sudden end and overlook, shut down, any feelings that were flourishing between them, still, she couldn't help but wish to hear from Jane that he wanted to stay.

"Well, I don't know about the amazing house, but is certainly going to be difficult to stay away from this bed." He rolled over to his side.

It wasn't what she wanted to hear but Lisbon was relieved.

"So that's what you're going to miss? The bed?"

"That's not all of it, of course"

"No?"

"Uh-uh." He had his eyes closed and arms wide open, "these bed sheets are a wonder too."

He opened one eye to see her. Lisbon was shooting him an indignant look.

He beamed at her, "You have a little bit to do with it too, Agent Lisbon."

"Oh really? A little bit?" She snorted, "I'm flattered."

She sat by his side with her legs crossed.

"I can't believe you're the one with the 'don't worry' attitude in this relationship."

She sheepishly grimaced, "Seems like I really have the ability to make you nervous."

"That you have."

She glared at him, "is this what you were going to say back then, in the car?"

His expression confirmed it.

"Why didn't you say so right off?"

Jane growled, "I don't know. I had changed my mind."

"And then you changed it back?"

He murmured in confirmation.

"Fine, but next time just say it. Don't wake me up at 3am."

"I didn't wake you up, woman."

"But you're keeping me up."

"You never complained about that before."

"Shush." She caressed his chest, "So are you staying?"

He brought her closer to him and kissed her.

"I am."

"Good."

Jane chuckled against her mouth, "I think you might have a soft spot for me, Agent Lisbon."

"Shut up."

…

Lisbon with a kiss on her cheek.

"Good morning," Jane whispered in her ear.

With eyes still closed, she answered with a yawning.

"If you didn't wake up in a hurry and pushing me out of the bed, today, I'm guessing you don't have to go to work."

"Damn it." She stretched out, "I took the morning off."

"That's great."

"Stan's coming here."

"Oh. Your brother."

"Yes." She observed his countenance, confused.

"I should go." He gave her a quick peck and got up.

She loved how he looked in the morning. The messy curls and sleepy eyes. And this time in her room, all of him, all for her, no annoying blonde giggling by his side.

Her gaze roamed over his half-naked body, her eyes filled with desire remembering how his body felt against hers, last night.

It was Jane's time to get red cheeks, it was a shame he could hide that so well.

"I didn't ask you to leave," she said lazily.

"But you want to, don't you?" he pulled up his pants, putting an end to Lisbon's fun, and continue to look for his jacket that was somewhere under the bed.

"I wanted to avoid an awkward situation, that's all."

"Meeting my girlfriend's little brother is not my concept of fun either."

"Girlfriend?" Lisbon echoed.

Jane stopped moving to take a gander at her, "ah, a manner of speaking."

"O-kay..." she said with a childlike expression. "But you don't need to go now."

"No?" his salacious thoughts were quite evident in his grin.

That was a tempting offer, but they had no time for that.

"I was thinking about breakfast."

"Oh."

Lisbon laughed at his disappointed face.

"I'll take a quick shower and we meet downstairs."

Jane lifted an eyebrow, "can I join you?"

"Better not."

"Why not?"

He watched as Lisbon got up in one quick motion, and walked straight to the bathroom, making him lose his composure over her naked legs.

"It might become another habit too hard for you to break," she closed the door behind her.

"Huh," his eyes widened, impressed. He put on he's jacket, his eyes still at the bathroom's closed door, "I just really needed a shower," he said to himself.

…

Jane was preparing a cup of tea for himself while Lisbon drank the coffee, made by him.

He noticed she staring at him.

"What?" Jane probed.

Lisbon considered her answer but there was no point in trying to lie to him.

She hid her face behind her coffee mug, "You won't just… disappear after today, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You seemed really worried last night. You might think it's better not to come back."

"No, of course not. I overreacted. You said yourself, we know what this is, we should be ready for the end. Right?"

"Right."

They stood in silence glimpsing each other.

"So," Jane cleared his throat and stared down at his teacup, "You haven't told your brother about Vincent yet, have you?"

"No," it sounded like a question, "last time he asked how Vincent was, I told him we needed to talk in person. I think he knows why."

"And you…have you seen Vincent since you two broke up?"

"What? Are you jealous?" she enunciated the last word and crinkled her nose, teasing him.

He blew inside the teacup he was holding, "just curious."

"We've bumped into each other a couple of times at work. He pretends he doesn't know me."

Pitiful little man, Jane thought.

"Since we're talking about exes-"

"Hmm,' Jane complained while drinking his tea, shaking his head.

"Have you seen the blonde girl again?" she asked despite his protest.

"Which one?"

Lisbon growled at him.

"Oh, that one," he chuckled, "Yeah, she came back after that day."

"And?"

"And," he sighed, "And I was alone. And you weren't."

"I know," Lisbon's voice came out weak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's fine. I'm not upset," she said smiling, her high voicing betraying her.

Jane stepped forward, pressing her against the kitchen island she was leaning on.

"Maybe just a little bit…jealous?"

"No. I'm not-"

The doorbell rang and Lisbon almost dropped her coffee. "Damn it."

Jane was pleased satisfied, taking a sip from his cup, "want me to jump out of the window?"

She looked unamused, "… don't make this complicated."

A wicked grin lifted the corner of his mouth, Lisbon rolled her eyes in response.

…

At first glance, Lisbon's brother looked like a goofball, with short hair and chubby cheeks. He didn't resemble Lisbon in any obvious way and even looked a little older than her.

Stan shook Jane's hand, "so, you're the new boyfriend?" his eyes went from the blond to Lisbon, "That was quick, T."

"Stan!" Lisbon was quick to censor him.

Jane's face was pure amusement.

"I'm not judging, T. Just saying, Vincent's gone and you didn't even tell me."

"Patrick is not my boyfriend."

"No?" he scanned the man with his eyes, the messy hair and clothes, the missing shoes. "Are you sure?"

"No, he's not. And he was about to leave."

"I was?" Jane pointed to himself.

Both men stared at Lisbon waiting for a response, obviously with the only intention to try to make her embarrassed and confused.

"Whatever." She closed the doors behind them with a sigh.

The two walked towards the kitchen leaving Lisbon behind.

"So, Patrick, right?"

"Yes."

"You don't seem like a cop, or a lawyer."

"I'm not. That's probably why I'm not the boyfriend." Jane looked over his shoulder, to Lisbon shooting him an angry look.

"I work at the circus."

"You're joking, right?"

Jane denied while looking at Lisbon over his teacup. An annoying smirk on his lips.

"The circus?" Stan repeated surprised, "That's definitively far from your type, sis. Good for you."

Jane beamed at Lisbon. 'Even your brother knows your type,' he appeared to say.

"And what exactly do you do there?"

"Okay, that's enough, you two." Lisbon got between the men in her kitchen, "what did you want to talk about, Stan? Why are you here?"

"Maybe I really missed my big sister?"

The look on her face took down his smile.

"Okay, boss. Straight to the point." He exhaled sharply, "I have news."

"What did you get yourself into, this time?"

"I didn't say bad news".

When she didn't answer he proceeded:

"Karen is pregnant."

"What?" Lisbon seemed out of words, "Are you two insane? You don't even have a job."

"Damn it, T, this is good. I'm going to be a father!"

"There's more than getting your latest girlfriend pregnant to be a father, Stan!"

Jane wished he had left when she told him to. He felt like an intruder hearing that conversation.

"It happened, not everybody has full control of their lives like you, T. I'm sorry!"

"I can do this. I'm not a child anymore."

"Well, you still act like one."

"You don't get to lecture me, T, not anymore. We barely see each other; you don't know what's going on in my life. Or Jimmy's. You're always too busy caring for your perfect career, to remember you have a family!"

"So you messing up it's my fault?"

"I did not mess up! It's life, I'm living it, you should try to do the same."

As much as Jane wanted to sneak past them, he knew how that conversation would end. He knew Lisbon would feel guilt and pitiable as soon as the shock was gone.

Hesitantly he touched her shoulder, interrupting the discussion for Stan's relief. Lisbon hadn't even noticed the man standing behind her.

"Patrick, not now," she was dry.

"Okay. I'll go." He demeanor as innocent as possible.

Lisbon turned back to her brother.

When she thought he was on his way out, Jane continued, "Can you take me to the door?"

She looked at him confused, hoping he would take a hint, but Jane just stared at her, waiting.

Lisbon groaned, "fine".

She walked fast and went to open the front door. Jane shoot Stan a quickly sympathetic look before following her.

At the entrance he held her hand gently pushing her outside and closed the door behind them.

"Patrick, I need to talk to Stan, can we do this later?"

He studied her to find the best way to continue, "I know this is none of my business-"

"No, it isn't. This is not your family."

Jane sighed and pressed his lips together.

"I'm sorry," she looked away,

"No, you're right, I'll leave you two to talk."

"Patrick, I'm sorry. I want to hear what you have to say. Please, go on."

He licked his lips, thoughtfully. "Fine. It's just, Stan came here for his bigger sister's support, Teresa, but not for her help. He doesn't need you to save him this time. He is a grown up, not the little boy you had to take care of."

"Does having a kid when he can barely feed himself seems like an attitude of a grown up to you?"

Jane got closer to her, now whispering, "grownups makes mistakes too. But he's ready to fix this one. He's clearly a good man, and you can take some credit for that, but you can't be responsible for everything he does from now on."

Lisbon seemed ready to accept what he was saying but still had some denial in her.

"You don't know him." It wasn't much of an affirmation, more of a wish for him to continue convincing her.

"No, but I know you. I know you will feel guilty for treating him like you're doing now; for not believing in him and give him a chance. And I prefer not to see you that way, Teresa. I hate when you act like everything is your fault."

Lisbon avoided his look.

"I know that when you calm down you'll be by his side, supporting him-"

"Of course I'm going to support him."

"Then that's it, that's all he needs. He and Karen will do the rest."

"You even remembered Karen's name," Lisbon babbled to gain some time to recompose herself.

"Of course I did." Jane poked his head, "Fortress."

"You're right. I'm…" she sighed and rubbed her eyes.

"I know. This is also about Annie, right?"

"You've seen how her relationship with Tommy is. They hardly ever see each other, and he has a different job every time they do. A more dangerous or stupid one."

"Yet the other day you told me, with proud, that he was a loving father trying his best."

"He is."

"That's more than you can expect from most. And knowing Annie, I believe he's doing a good job."

"I know," her voice was barely audible.

"And Stan might do even better. He's older than Tommy was when he had Annie, and he's certainly enthusiastic about the idea. I think he'll be fine."

She stared deeply into his eyes, looking for comfort there.

"Do you really think he's ready?"

"How ready can one be for something like that? Even when it's planned, being a parent, becoming responsible for someone, that's never an easy task."

She nodded in silence.

"Soon enough you'll know."

"Yeah, right…" she answered as if he had made a joke.

Jane realized with sadness that Lisbon's reaction to Stan's news were deeper than she would ever acknowledge.

He stepped closer putting his arms around her waist.

"You should get back inside. I don't think the pregnancy was the only news Stan had for you."

"What do you mean?"

"You will see."

She hesitated, "Will I see you tonight?"

He murmured in agreement, his focus now on the delicate features of the woman in front of him. "You know where I'll be."

"Thank you for talking to me, and… calming me down. You were wonderful."

He dismissed her comment but that shy smile persisted on his lips.

Lisbon was the only one to see that expression more than once. The only that made him feel proud of himself.

She whispered, "I think you have the power to calm me down."

"I'm not sure I agree with that," Jane chuckled.

"You do," she scrunched her nose, "you just prefer to be a pain in the ass."

…..

Lisbon leaned against the front door, staring at Stan.

"You have a little something," he gestured to her whole mouth area, "over here."

Lisbon smiled, flustered "Shut up."

"I like him," Stan said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You like him because he's on your side."

She sat in the armchair in front of her brother. "I'm sorry, Stan. I-"

"It's okay, T. I knew how this was going to be. You like to live everything as planned, exactly as you think it should be, and that's fine, but I'm not like that."

"It's just-"

"There's more, T."

Lisbon allowed him to continue.

"I know how messed up it was that you had to take care of us. I'm only one year younger than you, that wasn't fair."

Lisbon tried to interrupt, certainly to reassure Stan that's she was fine with that, that it hadn't been a burden to give up her own youth to take care of her brothers.

They both knew that was a lie. No, she wasn't happy to take that role, it was the hardest thing she's ever done, and that didn't make her a bad sister. Even if Lisbon often doubted herself.

Stan continued before she had time to say anything, "but I'm glad you did. We would be completely lost without you, T, but it's done. We are not your responsibility anymore. I need you to stop treating me like a kid. If I screw up, it's my mistake to make, all I need from my big sister is her support."

"You have it, Stan. You always will."

"I know."

He raised an eyebrow, Teresa knew well that expression, "And you're allowed to make your own mistakes too, you know? The blond one I just met, included."

Lisbon smiled faintly and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Are you really okay with becoming a father? Aren't you scared?"

"I'm shitting my pants, T," Lisbon laughed at those words, "but I know I can do this."

She felt so proud hearing all that determination coming from her little brother. She got up from her place and sat by his side.

"Guess I should be congratulating you, huh?"

"I want you to be part of his or her life, T. I need that."

"I will, I promise. I'm sorry about my reaction. It's really great news, Stan. Really. I was just worried."

"I know."

"And I'm sorry I've made our relationship so complicated. I'll do better now."

"Quit with the 'sorrys', sis. We should all do better. Maybe we should try to hang out like normal families from now own."

"That would be nice. Does that mean you'll start talking with Tommy again?"

"Baby steps., T Not quite there yet."

She chortled and nodded.

"Stan, Patrick said you had something else to tell me, do you know what he was talking about?"

"Ah, yeah, but how would he know that?"

"He's good with that sort of thing." She waved her hand, "but what is it?"

Stan stretched out his leg so he could dig something out of his front pocket. He took out a small box and opened it in front of Lisbon.

"Oh my god, Stan," she gushed, "You're getting married?"

"Yep," he beamed, "sorry ladies, but the time has come."

"And I know what you're thinking, T, but no. The baby fast forward things a little bit, but I really want this"

"That's great," she continued softly, "I didn't know you two… You'll be really happy."

Needing a minute alone, Lisbon offered to get more coffee for them.

She came back bringing two steamy cups. They drank in silence until the awkwardness of the moment pushed her to make a question that had been bothering her for a while.

"Stan," she paused "about what you said before…do you really think all I do is planned? That I'm not living my life?"

"No. I mean; Those are different questions. Sure you're living your life, in your own way."

"Yeah." She lowered her head.

"If you're not happy with how things are going, you can always change, you know."

"I know."

"So," she stared down at her cup, "when are you going to propose?"

"I did when she said she was pregnant, actually, but I just got our rings."

"Have you set the date yet?"

"Next month."

"That's fast."

"You can bring the trapeze guy, or whatever he is. I can't believe we're not talking about you dating a guy from a circus."

"No, he's", she laughed quietly, "he's not going to stick around for long."

"Why not? Need me to beat his ass?"

"Hey! I can beat his ass on my own if I need to."

"Fair point."

"You know how the circus is always moving from city to city, soon he'll have a new place to go."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Sure. It would never work as a long term thing anyway."

"Why not? He seems to like you."

"How'd you know? you exchanged two words with him."

"I saw him getting involved in a family fight –I would have run from- because he didn't want to see you getting hurt, and he knew you well enough to know you would. The guy could have turned around and act like he had nothing to do with it, T, but he didn't."

"I know." Her face lighted up, "he was great."

"And you know what's even more amazing? You listened to him. I know Vincent never did that, he never even tried to get in the middle of our family discussions, but shit, I'd feel sorry for the guy just imagining if he had ever tried."

"Oh come on, I'm not like that."

"No, you're right, I must be thinking about my other big sister."

Lisbon drank from her coffee to avoid answering.

Stan continued, "You should listen to me. You know I'm a good matchmaker."

"Since when?"

"Since always! Remember woody squire?"

"Don't even start."

Stan laughed, "I'm telling you, T. The trapeze guy really likes you."

"No, he was just being nice." She forced herself to continue, that could be the best chance she would have at rebuilding her relationship with her brother. "I mean; he likes me but not like that. He's the kind of guy that has a woman in every city he goes, I don't really expect him to like someone that easily."

"I doubt it was easy," he mumbled.

Lisbon frowned, "Anyway, can you really see me with someone like him? that works in a circus?"

"Why not?"

"He's nothing like me, Stan."

"You're following the script again, sis. So what if he's nothing like you imagined? Vincent was your perfect match, according to your plans, but you two were ridiculous together."

"That's exactly what I told him when we broke up. Well, not the ridiculous part," she glared at Stan.

"I was relieved when we talked through the phone and you told me you two had broken up. Well, you didn't say the words, but you know."

"I thought you liked Vincent," Lisbon said confused.

"He treated you well, that was enough for me, but it was clear he didn't make you feel anything. You know?"

"Apparently everybody knew that but me."

"You knew it too, T. But he was your safe bet."

"I guess you're right."

"Next time don't stick to the plan. Follow what makes you happy."

"Easier said than done." She quickly amended. "And the worse thing is that Vincent wasn't even the good guy he always seemed to be. My safe bet wasn't that safe."

"Did he do something to you?" Stan asked alarmed.

"No, not me. Patrick."

"Wait, do they know each other?"

"Yeah, they sort of… got into a fight".

"For you? Oh whoa! Well done, sis!"

"Is not funny, Stan."

"It's not funny, it's awesome."

"Stan."

"Okay, it's a little funny too. Did you cheat on Vincent?"

She rolled eyes. "Stan!"

"Sorry." He shrugged.

"Let's… not talk about that, okay?"

"Okay. But just so you know, if you decide to run away with the circus, I'll support you."

She furrowed her brow, "Thanks."

Stan finished his coffee, and settled the cup over the table.

"What does that guy do anyway? Please tell me is nothing sexual."

"What the hell kind of circus have you been to?"

"None, but I've seen this show, "freaks and-"

"I don't want to know, Stan."

"Okay, but what is he?"

She side eyed him, hesitating, "alright, just… don't judge him, okay?"

"If you didn't..."

"He's a psychic."

"A psychic?"

"Well, a pretend one, obviously."

"Shit, T."

"What?"

"Nothing. Its none of my business."

"Just say it, Stan."

He struggled, "It's…we've always hated these guys. Especially you, being a cop and all."

She stared blankly at the ground.

"These people, they don't care for anyone. They will lie and trick, as long as they get some money out it."

Lisbon threw her head back and sighed heavily.

"Do you remember the one that told mom he could get us in touch with our grandmother?"

"I…no," she sat up straight, "I don't. When was that?"

"We were little, maybe father didn't want you to see mom crying, I don't think you and Jimmy were there, anyway. But I never forgot. She said she'd do anything, T. Anything. And she meant it. She was desperate, and if our father hadn't dragged her out of there she'd probably had sold our house to pay that scumbag."

"Oh my god."

"I mean, what would you do if someone said you could talk to mom again and you believed that? Wouldn't you give everything you had just to see her again? To hear one of her horrible jokes?"

Lisbon swallowed hard, a lost memory resurged for a brief second.

"He saw she was desperate to believe his crap, and he didn't feel bad taking advantage of that. That's what they do."

"I know, but Patrick's, he's different."

"Are you sure?"

Lisbon didn't answer.

Stan looked around uncomfortable.

"I screwed up, I'm sorry, T, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No," she said weakly, "it's fine."

"What do I know? If you say he's different, I believe you. Enjoy whatever is this thing you're having with him. Just be careful, alright?"

"I will be."

He got up and walked around her living room.

Lisbon was still quiet, lost in thought.

"I think we had enough 'brother and sister' talk, for the next five years."

Lisbon chuckled, "maybe next time we should stick to the weather."


	14. Goodbye

Lisbon arrived at the circus and walked straight to the dark corner where Jane's trailer was, hoping the psychic would be around there as well, isolating himself from the public, like usually.

"Hey," she greeted him and leaned against the fence where he was, but turned to the opposite side.

"Hey." Jane chanced a glance at her.

Lisbon didn't think it would look so evident that she was attempting to maintain some distance from him, not when she kept her smile and did her best to sound cheery. But it was clear simple from the way she greeted him that she was keeping her distance.

In spite of the fact that it was evident to Jane, he acted obliviously.

"So, what did you have to tell me?" Her voice typically husky.

"I said on the phone that it could wait."

She shrugged, "now I'm here, what is it?"

He ignored the question, "How was it with Stan?"

"Good. We…talked. A lot."

He watched carefully, "both of you needed that,"

"I guess. But it was exhausting. We ended up talking more about me than him."

He chuckled. "Did you talk about me?"

"No." The answer came quick, in a high voice.

Jane watched her lower her look, avoiding his.

"That bad, hm?"

"No." She put a hand on the gun tucked in the back of her pants waist, her own way of fidgeting. "Stan was just curious."

"I know what your brother said, Teresa. And I don't mind or blame him, but I thought we had exhausted that topic already."

"We had. But it's hard…" she trailed off.

"Do you want to talk about it? I don't want this bothering you."

"No, it's fine. I just need some time."

"Okay." He breathed out to calm down, "this seems like the perfect time to say it then: we've set the date for our departure."

Her eyes widened, her mouth formed a small circle.

"When?" she asked quietly.

"In six days."

"Six days?" Lisbon echoed, "I thought you'd set the date at least a month in advance."

"We don't have a reason to stick around for so long. The crowd here it's not very excited about us, anymore."

She nodded slowly, her expression was dismal.

Jane stepped back putting some distance between them.

"Take as much time as you need, Teresa. I'll see you tomorrow. Or when you feel like."

…

Jane was inside the Airstream, taking off his shoes when he heard the knocking. Lisbon walked in and closed the door behind her.

He was sitting in the passenger's seat, being illuminated by the lights outside.

"Is it okay if I sleep here?" She bit her lip and raised her eyebrows in expectancy.

"Of course."

Lisbon proceeded to take off her clothes, feeling weirdly uneasy when Jane turned to the other side to look at the Airstream's windshield.

He heard Lisbon placing her gun on the table with a loud thud, followed by the sound of her jeans falling to the floor and what he imagined being Lisbon taking off her jacket and shirt.

He heard her sitting on the bed and then it was silent.

A moment passed before she spoke.

"You don't plan on sleeping there, do you?"

"I'm not sleepy."

Jane heard Lisbon getting off the bed and walking towards him. She walked past him and leaned against the Airstream's panel, blocking his view from outside.

He was very pleased to see she was wearing his t-shirt as a nightgown, not only for the alluring view of her legs, but for the intimacy it represented.

Lisbon noticed his look with satisfaction but didn't fully comprehended what it meant.

She folded her arms over her chest, "for how long are you going to be mad at me?"

He shrugged, "do I look mad?"

"Yeah, you do."

"I'm not. You said you needed time."

"I hate when you hold on to the little things I say." She scoffed thinking about the night of their first kiss.

"I'm sorry, you were right. We have talked about this so many times. I knew what you did before I even got to actually know you, I don't have the right to keep bringing this up."

"Teresa-"

She continued over him, "You've given me proof that you're a good man, that's what matters. You were wonderful today, Patrick. Not only today."

He looked away. That sort of compliment always made him feel guilt, as if he was cheating to get her to believe he deserved them.

"Are we okay?" her voice was so gentle and loving, it forced him to look at her.

"We're fine."

She looked right and left, as if making sure of what to do next, taking courage.

Slowly, she moved towards him and sat on his lap. She cuddled between his shoulder and neck, her legs going under the armrest of the seat.

Although a little surprised, Jane didn't hesitate to put an arm behind her back for support, his other hand over her thighs partly covered by his t-shirt.

Lisbon was happy he couldn't see her red cheeks. She wondered if he still felt the tingles of excitement and the heart beating fast when they were close.

Jane looked away trying to hold back a smile, "this is not fair," he said delicately.

"What?" she looked amused.

"If I did this while you were mad at me you'd have kicked me out of the seat."

"Are you sure? Maybe next time you should try it."

"I hope there won't be a next time."

"Hoping is good," she taunted.

When he didn't answer she moved to be able to look at him.

"Patrick, you just said we were fine."

"We are."

"Then cheer up."

"Oh I'm cheery."

"Yeah, sure."

"Come on," he pointed to the night sky with his chin, "the scenery is beautiful and I have the girl on my lap,

"The sky always looks beautiful here."

"Quite often." He looked through the windshield, to the dark night filled with stars.

The view was even better when the circus lights were out, but the place was lighting up. Lisbon was so tired she hadn't realized how early it was.

"Are the people here okay with you not doing your shows at night?"

"Meh. I told them I needed time. I'll go back when we move to the next city."

"Your fans must be missing you," she joked.

"They will survive."

Lisbon was now all snuggled up against Jane's chest,

She looked at her hand playing with the collar of his shirt, "we only have six days."

"it's more than what we had so far. Since we started this, I mean."

"It is," she said to herself, thoughtfully, "has it really only been 4 days? It seems like so much had happened."

They had grown so close in so little time. But that hadn't began four days ago, she realized. It begun when they first met and that annoying smile of his wouldn't leave her thoughts.

"How long do you think it will take for you guys to come back to LA?"

"A couple of years, most likely."

Lisbon thought about that, not sure how to answer.

"Stan invited you to his wedding," she blurted out.

Jane raised his eyebrows, "was that before or after you told him what I do for a living?"

She ignored him, "it's over a month from now. I just wanted you to know that he liked you."

"Would you want me to go if we had the time?"

"If you wanted to."

"That's not an answer."

"Yes." She glanced at him, her hand over his stubble, "I'd like if you came."

He stared at her paying full attention, she could tell he was reading her, but not what he was seeing.

She turned her attention back to his shirt, opening a button there, "Okay, now it's my time to say it: I don't want anything bothering you, so talk to me."

"There's nothing bothering me, Teresa. I'm just thinking."

"About?"

"I'm thinking… that I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," it came out weak as a whisper.

She tried to sound more enthusiastic, "are we going to do anything special for your last day here?"

"Hm, do you have anything in mind?"

Distractedly, she continued to open the button of his shirt. "Not really."

With a sly smile: "maybe something the catholic school girl in you doesn't approve."

"Like murder?"

He made a funny sound in the back of his throat, "well, not what I was considering. But good to know where your mind is."

She laughed, "I'll think of something. Now come on." She got up and pulled him by the hand, "you're not going to let me sleep alone on my first night here."

"That's right," he beamed at her, "it's your first time sleeping in the Airstream."

"I know. Come on," she pulled him again.

Jane got up with a groan, he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Lisbon giggled when he bit her ear softly while leading her to bed.

Lisbon's strategy was to focus on her job at maximum to occupied her mind in a way she wouldn't have time to think about the night ahead of her. Unhappily for the CBI agent, the day was as calm as it could be. And avoiding to think about Jane's departure became a lot harder when she mentioned to her team that he was going away, dropping the information in a random conversation with them.

Wayne and Grace were convinced that it was harder than she made it look, that she was acting too normal. And so they proceeded to observe her as if they had a bet on when Lisbon was going to lose it.

To stay away from the glances from her worried agents, Lisbon went to seat alone in her office, and so, thinking about Patrick became inevitable.

She thought, with a pain in her chest, that maybe she would even feel relieved when he moved. That it would be better to have him out of her life. Everything would go back to how it was, she would focus on her career, and go on with her plans. No more wondering when he would leave, no more incessant questions in her head about Jane's place in her life, or hers in his life. Everything had felt so uncertain since she met him.

Jane had only made her happy, and Lisbon was almost wishing he was gone. She felt so guilt that she immediately texted him.

'Looking forward to tonight. I have a little surprise.'

Getting dressed took 3 times longer than it should. Lisbon thought she would never have to go thru that again after their first date, but there she was. It was cold, so she chose her new jeans and leather jacket. In truth, she wanted to impress but didn't want Jane to know that, and he would if she showed up in the dress she had bought for the occasion. So she left it in the back of her closet, claiming to herself she should save it to wear at the fundraise event for the CBI.

The circus was now just broken pieces of what it used to be. The tends were down, wrapped, scattered all around, over cars and inside trucks. The job wasn't half done; they would finish it in the morning she thought.

Lisbon knew them enough by now, to know they were all partying in the back, the same place where she and Patrick danced for the first time. A memory she knew would be with her forever. The excitement, the comfort, the more she thought about it, more she craved his embrace.

She headed to the back, hoping Jane would be with the other carnies, but just when she was close enough to hear the singing and chatting from the group, she saw him, seating on the ferries wheel by himself.

He got up, leaned against the structure with arms crossed and waited for her. When she was close enough to see the lazy warm smile on his tired face, her chest became heavier. He must've sensed it, because he starting walking, to meet her halfway.

"Hey you."

"Hey", he met her with a kiss, holding her face between his hands.

She smiled against his lips when they broke apart.

"What are you doing here, alone?"

He made a face as if it was obvious, "waiting for you, of course." He put a hand on her back, "Now, come on, let's get one last view of this place."

"You- you mean the…?" her eyes went from Jane to the Ferris wheel.

"That is correct."

"This thing looks really old."

"Oh it is," he helped her get inside the first car.

He turned the big structure on and joined his date before the car started to move.

"How are we going to get down?"

"Meh, we'll think of something."

He looked at her distressed face. "We can jump off when it's close enough."

She scowled at him.

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

"I'm not worried."

"You sure look that way."

"How do you even disassemble this thing?" She thought about them carrying that to the next city.

"I don't know; I never stick to this part." It just wasn't something he'd like to talk about.

He put his hand over hers.

"Teresa, relax. Appreciate the view."

Lisbon loosened her grip on the safety bar and stopped facing the ground to glance him.

She took a deep breath, leaned back against the car and finally took a look around.

"You're right. It's amazing."

The slow mechanics just became slower and slower and suddenly stopped.

"Why did it stop?" Lisbon asked alarmed.

"I set it to stop."

"What do you mean?"

"I set it to go only halfway around."

"Now we can't even jump off of this thing."

Jane snickered loudly, "come here," he put his arm around her shoulder and with some effort managed to make her relax against him.

"Patrick, I don't want to turn this into a melancholic goodbye."

"Me neither. And we won't do that. Let's just enjoy each other's company like we have for the past two weeks."

"Okay."

"Are you cold?"

"No…"

He so something in her expression, "what?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking, I'm glad I came with these clothes,"

"Did you had something else in mind?"

"I bought a dress, actually."

"You bought a dress? For- for me?'

"No. I mean, sort of."

He grinned, "I'm so flattered."

Lisbon was too embarrassed to answer.

"My shirt is new too."

"No, is not."

"I swear."

She took a glance at him. Jane was looking down at his chest, checking the buttons of his shirt. She couldn't help a smile.

"And I thought you'd appreciate the vest," he checked the buttons of that one too.

"I do," Lisbon said amused.

He looked up to her, "You do?"

She beamed at him.

"And you, Teresa, you look beautiful. Like in the first time I saw you."

"The first time you saw me and thought I was a perfect sucker."

"No, no. I never thought of you as a mark."

"Are you sure Pete would agree with that?"

He nodded, "Yes. He would confirm my first intentions with you were purely libidinous."

"Libidinous?"

"Only the best libidinous intentions."

She chuckled, "right."

He frowned, suddenly remembering her text, "what about my surprise?"

"Damn it, I forgot it in the car."

"That's okay, we can got get it later."

"Do you know what it is?"

"Of course not."

"Really?"

"I swear. I didn't even think about it."

"But you would know if you had thought about it." She moaned, "I feel so boring around you, it's annoying."

She didn't really mean that. His "mind reader" abilities proved to be useful in a relationship with a closed person like Lisbon herself; and she wouldn't deny it, sex with him was mind-blowing, and his talent had probably something to do with that.

"Why? I love that you're predictable."

"Gee. Thanks."

He laughed, "come on, you know what I mean."

"I really don't. You said I was intriguing; why would you be intrigued by someone so obvious?"

"You're translucid my dear, but you still surprise me. You're… uniquely obvious."

"Okay...I'll pretend that's a compliment. I guess."

"I'm just saying, even knowing what you will do, I'm still surprised you're this way. I'm surprised with how brave you are, and have been for all your life. I'm surprised that in spite of everything you're such a kind, good hearted person. I'm surprised at how much you care and worry about others. I'm amazed by your fiber and determination and with how easily your cheeks turn red."

He stroked her face with his fingers.

"You got all that from the last two weeks?"

"No, I got all that from our first two dates. Those with Annie, I mean."

"Those weren't dates."

"Well…" He cocked his head both sides,

"Thank you," with a hand around his neck, Lisbon brought him down and kissed him eagerly. Relishing his taste and enjoying the warm touch of his hand on her, she moaned with pleasure in his mouth.

He sighed when they broke apart, needing air, "That was. Hm. I guess that sounded more like a compliment."

She smiled and bit her lower lip. "And about those 'dates', just before I got here I was thinking about that night we danced."

"It was a great night."

"It truly was."

The Ferris wheel's car suddenly rocked and swayed remind them of where they were.

"We're going to be fine. It just rocked a bit."

She looked at him pleading not to have that discussion.

"Fine. I'll message Pete to get us down."

"That's your plan?"

"It seemed simple enough."

While Jane used his phone to text his friend, Lisbon became self-aware of what she would be looking like after that juvenile make out session. She used her hands to try to clean the mess made with her lipstick, and without thinking reached for Jane's shirt to close the buttons she had opened.

Jane giggled still typing his message. "Teresa, it's Pete, we could be naked and he still wouldn't notice."

Jane was inside his trailer waiting for Lisbon to come back with the surprise she had for him.

If she had got there a second earlier she would have seen the tension in his dashing eyes, moving from the Airstream's windows to his fidgeting hands, accompanied by the heavy breathing and his stressed expression.

Because happiness is too hard to find, and when you do, you better hang on tight to it, or you'll lose it. Those words resounded in his head, probably the only good thing his father ever told him. Jane always wondered what the man considered to be his lost happiness, and if that was the reason for his bitterness. Now it was too late to ask.

When Patrick saw her face entering through the open door, a smile forced his lips upwards. He had made his decision, there was nothing else to think about.

He would hang on tight to it. To her. If she allowed it.

Lisbon strolled to the bed with a silly grin, with no idea of the turbulence inside his head or of the excitement growing within him.

She sat by his side, "are you alright?" She asked amused, seeing no reason to be worried.

Jane controlled his breath the best way he could, "hm, yeah," he pointed to the little box in her hands, "so...?"

She bit her lip in expectation and gave him the box.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get you anything," he said analyzing the box.

"It's not like that. Open it, you'll see."

"Okay," he inspected the package, bringing it to his ear to hear the sound it'd make.

"Come' on," she laughed nervously, "just open it."

He got up and left the box where he was.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to open it?"

"Actually, there's something I need to tell you first."

"Okay…What is it?"

"Don't worry, it's good news."

"Then why do you look so tense?"

"Teresa, just…" he licked his lips, anxious, "I'm staying," those words set him free as the road hadn't in a long time.

It was so relieving to finally make that decision and to say it out loud. But he also felt apprehensive, his mind was telling him to slow down, that something was wrong, but he didn't pay attention to the warnings.

"Staying? What do you mean?

"Here, with you. I've considered it for a while now, and I think I'll stay. I mean, I will stay, it's a done deal."

"Patrick," she smiled. "How?"

"Why not, Teresa? I was miserable before you show up. I really think we need to give this, us, a chance."

Lisbon got up. Jane put his arms around her waist and watched her expression; it wasn't what he was expecting.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, it's just... where are you going to live?"

"I haven't thought about it yet; I will work something out."

She could see it in his eyes, the uneasiness growing within him. It was too painful to watch.

"Don't worry," Jane whispered, "I won't be staying with you, this is not a marriage proposal." He laughed softly.

"Am I… the only reason you're staying?"

"Well, you're a big part of it."

Lisbon felt a sting in her heart when his broad smile disappeared along with his excitement. And that was on her, she was the one to blame.

"What is it, Teresa? I thought you would be happy. Honestly, I thought you'd be really happy."

"I am. I'm just…" Jane let go of her and turned away.

"Patrick, don't be like this, I'm just worried."

"Worried about what? That you're going to have to endure me for more than a couple of weeks?"

She could see Jane cursing himself inside his head for taking that chance. For finally trying to move on.

He stepped back when she tried to get close to him.

"I see it now; I am just your pastime until the next Vincent shows up,"

Lisbon appeared both indignant and disgusted by those words.

"Don't say that. You know that's not true."

"I'm not sure you know what the truth is, Teresa."

"I can see it, Patrick. As soon as you leave, you will miss this."

Jane smiled but it was hollow, he walked away to the front of his trailer.

"Always in a different place," Lisbon continued following him inside the small space in the airstream, "never putting down roots, never getting attached to anyone, you said that to me! This has always been your life."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this again," he covered his face with his hands.

Automatically Lisbon's eyes went to his dresser, where the wedding ring faintly reflected the blue light from the night entering the window.

"Ann? No. It's not like that. This is different."

"Different how Teresa?"

Ann never gave him a chance. She didn't care enough to deserve him, Lisbon thought. But she wasn't doing anything to prove that she did care.

Lisbon tried desperately to convince herself otherwise but nothing could answer his question.

"When you regret leaving all this, what's next? You come back, to how everything used to be, and I'm left alone, again, to deal with the loss."

"So I'm condemned to live like this forever, is that what you're saying?"

"No. Of course not."

"Let's be honest, Teresa. This has nothing to do with your fears of abandonment." Lisbon blinked, "This is about you afraid I'll change your life, and get in your way."

She stood in front of him and forced Jane to stay and look at her. "Patrick, these past weeks were wonderful, I hadn't felt this happy and excited about my life in such a long time. But… how are we going to do this? What are you going to do if you leave the circus?"

"I wasn't really thinking about that when I decided to stay, Teresa, I was thinking about you." His answer came dry while his eyes pierced hers.

"And what if we don't work out?"

"We clearly won't. It takes two for a relationship to work."

Lisbon sighed and let him walk away.

"You don't understand. It's just, it seems you're giving up everything you have for-"

"Nothing?"

"Damn it, Patrick, no! That's not what I'm saying."

"I thought what we had was an opportunity we couldn't miss. Something special-"

"It is special! I'm never going to forget you, but that's all it's supposed to be, a fond memory. I don't want to test what we have only to see it getting destroyed."

"So that's all you want me to be? A nice memory? A story to tell in the future, 'the circus guy you dated'."

"Stop doing this. You know what you mean to me. You gave me the strength to begin a new chapter in my life."

"A chapter that doesn't have any room for me."

"Patrick, please," she cried his name, frustrated. "You know this won't work. That's why we always agreed this would be a short thing. That's why we forced ourselves not to get involved."

"Involved? Are you kidding me? We are involved, Teresa! We're far past that!"

"I'm not saying you're not important to me, Patrick. You are!"

"It's more than that, Teresa, you rely on me. You have spent every free minute of our day with me for the past two weeks. When we meet after work - after I spend an hour waiting for you, sitting at your porch, because I can't wait to see you again - you meet me with a list of things you spend the whole day waiting to tell me."

"You talk to me about your job, not how proud you are of it, or how much you love it, but about how somedays it just doesn't seem worth it. Do you ever tell that to anyone else?"

Lisbon looked down and denied with her head. She forced down the lump in her throat.

"I know you still have nightmares about the two men you were forced to kill while working. And when you do, when you're scared and need someone you trust to be around, you embrace me. One of those nights you whispered 'Thank God you're here', when you thought I was sleeping."

Now she could add embarrassment to that tangle of feelings inside her, that included a rage she didn't know whether to blame it on Jane or herself. She sat on Jane's bed again, burying her face in her hands,

"When you were shot, Teresa, you came to me. We weren't in a relationship but you came here. You chose me to comfort you."

"I know," she whispered.

"You've been holding yourself, I see that, but it was worthless. You're involved. You've been involved from the beginning. And who cares if it's only been two weeks? I know you better than anyone else, I don't need more time to know I want you."

Jane leaned against his dresser, his hand brushed his hair and he let out a heavy sigh. The silence was unbearable.

He folded his arms over his chest and asked quietly: "Have you ever been this honest with someone?"

"Have you ever give so much of yourself to any other man?"

"I need to hear it," he insisted.

"I don't know," Lisbon managed to say, barely audible.

They both knew it was a lie. Everybody knows their own truth to those questions. Especially someone like Lisbon. Someone that had been engaged twice, but never said 'I love you' to anyone aside from her family.

The lump in her throat became bigger. At that point, it wasn't only about Jane and her relationship with him. Lisbon was a mess. She had been a mess for too long, but no one ever noticed, and so she convinced herself everything would be fine as long as she could keep it inside her; and now someone was exposing and forcing her to deal with all the chaos inside her chest.

Jane seemed a completely different man from the one Lisbon encountered minutes ago. He turned his back on her, "You, have," he faltered, "you need to go."

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracked. "You're the last person I wanted to hurt."

"You don't have to be sorry, Teresa. You're not obligated to be on the same page as I am. I just wished you had made that more clear." He shook his head, "Who am I kidding; this is not your fault. I didn't see it because I didn't want to."

"It doesn't have to end like this."

"Just go, Teresa. I have a lot to do before tomorrow."

Jane left the airstream shutting the door behind him without looking back.

Lisbon's initial reaction was to storm out of there right after him and let that growing rage take her out of there. But in the dark silent of Jane's trailer, while sitting in his bed, alone, confusion and fear won her over, and she allowed the tears to fall.

…

Lisbon hadn't been able to close her eyes that night, but she was struggling to get out of bed.

She spent hours rethinking her entire life, trying to find every opportunity she had lost because of that insanity need to have control over everything. It was deeper than that.

Being a cop defined Lisbon as a person, and she had never realized how much she was willing to sacrifice to maintain that as her absolute truth.

It was the fear of taking risks, of putting her trust in someone and thus opening herself to the possibility of getting hurt. Someone with trust issues, the perfect pair for Jane.

But although the fears might have shaped her life in a way or another, nothing had ever been quite as decisive. So far she had managed to keep a balance of what she wanted and needed and still keep herself in her safety zone. It had never led her to such a drastic choice.

Lisbon had never felt like she had so much to lose like she was feeling now.

Leaving her first fiancé should have been harder, she was in love and so young. But when Lisbon thought about that time, she remembered having the right filling about what she was doing. Even if it hurt, that young and naïve girl knew what was best for her.

This time, it was different.

She didn't want Jane to go. Why couldn't she just tell him that? Why was she worried instead of ecstatic, when he told her he wanted to stay?

Last night had turned in a nightmare when it was supposed to be one of her best memories. She had to talk to Jane for one last time and make things right.

Lisbon drove straight to the circus, she had traveled that path so many times, now. Made so many memories there. The smell of cotton candy would always remind her of their little walks around the park, Jane making her laugh and they bickering about the silliest things. It would be hard not to miss that place.

The travel fair was a bigger mess than the day before. The carnies were filling trunks and boxes, pulley ropes were being used to lower the main tend center poles, and Lisbon watched as Daisy was conducted to a trailer made especially for her transportation.

Footprints marked every inch of the dry soil.

But was no place to be found amidst the confusion, and the anxiety kept growing inside the CBI agent.

No one seemed to care about her presence there, they were all used to having her around by now, so Lisbon walked among them, trying not to be hit in the head or to stumble on anything.

Further inside, a tiny tent was still up. Water, food and a place to rest waiting for any carnie that needed it.

She looked inside and finally saw those blond shaggy curls of his.

Jane looked worn out. It didn't seem his night had been any better than hers.

He was having a hard time concentrating on the woman sitting in before him. He nodded every now and then but his eyes were focused on the nearly empty water bottle over the table, while his hand under his chin held his head.

Lisbon stepped closer, stopping at the entrance, trying not the disturb whatever was the discussion happening in there.

Without meaning to, she heard bits and pieces of the conversation, or rather monologue.

The woman, probably in her 60's, was desperately trying to convince Jane that she had enough money to sustain him for the rest of his life, in exchange for some sort of rock. It didn't seem like Jane was hearing that for the first time.

Her black clothes and hat made her look like a widow from the past century. The elegant posture indicating someone that felt superior, even in a moment of distress. In the tired features, you could see she was a woman carrying too many losses on her back.

'My granddaughter needs it!', 'I know you have it', "I know it's real', 'Your father showed it me.'

The fierce old woman insistently repeated those words. Attempting to persuade him. Demanding an answer, at the same time begging.

She began to tell her story probably for the third time. Jane raised his head, ready to say something, he was finally going to put an end to that, when he saw Lisbon standing just outside the tent. Her black silhouette in against the sunlight.

He stared at her small frame under the blazing sun. His eyes had an intensity, that even from that distance, made Lisbon uncomfortable. His face didn't show any emotion, and that indifference in him frozen her in place.

Jane finally broke the contact, he quickly turned to the woman in front of him and interrupted her speech, " Mrs. Harington, you've convinced me. I can see you're in real need."

"I am!" The woman said startled. She was confused by his sudden change.

"I'm just no sure you can afford it." Jane's eyes went from the old woman to Lisbon, again, "it's an exceptionally uncommon item."

"I'll give you everything I have." She started digging into her purse, "I can make you a check-"

The carnie silenced her with a movement of his hand.

"It's fine Mrs. Harington. I'll go get the artifact," Jane got off the chair.

"We can talk about the payment later. I'm certain that no value it's too high to help your granddaughter."

He left the tent from the opening behind him. Leaving the old woman alone.

Lisbon walked back to her car trying to forget what she had seen.


	15. Crystal

"We only accept the love we think we deserve." The woman said to no one in particular, while she lazily ran her middle finger around the rim of the cup. Her scarlet fingernails matched her lipstick shade.

Lisbon closed her notebook, "you can take it from here," she said to Cho before getting up.

"Had you heard that quote before, detective?" the lady in red asked.

Lisbon turned back around just before opening the door. "No. I hadn't,"

"Well, it's truthful, wouldn't you agree?"

"Do you think that's why Michael didn't want to see you anymore?"

The woman ignored the sarcasm in the agent's tone.

"I believe humans are let to accept that they deserve less than they can get." She proceeded, her authoritarian tone was small and pathetic in that interrogation room, "Being humble doesn't make a man noble. Being bold, having the courage to fight for what you want, that is a much more dignified feeling. I always get what I want, agent Lisbon. I don't settle for less. I won't be ashamed for knowing my place in the world."

"Yeah," Lisbon said with scorn, "I bet you felt pretty damn brave killing a seventeen years old boy with a blow to his back."

-

"You were right," Lisbon said with a little smile, "she confessed."

"Good to know I can still be useful," Minelli answered gladly.

"Of course you do, boss. You're the best we got."

"More like the only one, Lisbon."

"You're still our favorite."

He chuckled quickly.

They both watched through the mirror as Cho wrote down notes from the murderer's testimony.

Minelli cleared his throat, "what was the quote she said? Something about love…"

"We only accept the love we think we deserve," Lisbon and her boss said together.

"Hum, right" Minelli gestured, "do you agree with that?"

"I don't know," the agent grinned, "Why? Having trouble with love, sir?"

"On the contrary. I just started dating again," the man's features lighted up.

"That's great. I'm happy for you."

"What about yours, Lisbon?"

"Mine what?"

"Your love life, of course."

"It's fine, sir," she answered amused.

There was a certain awkwardness to it, her love life had never been a topic between the two, but she didn't feel uncomfortable. Minelli had always been more than her boss.

"Fine," he echoed, "hm, is that the same as nonexistent?"

She felt embarrassed, "I'm not really focusing on that right now."

"What happened to that blond one you were showing off the other day?"

She frowned, grinning, "I wasn't showing him off," her smile retreated, "and I don't know about him. I haven't seen Patrick in a while."

"He was a good influence on you."

"Good?" She repeated surprised.

"Sure. He got you out of line, you got him in line. That's a good balance."

"I guess so."

"Of course I didn't quite appreciate you bringing his ideas to solve the cases. We had more complaints during the weeks you were with him than in my last 5 years working for the CBI."

She sniggered, "A lot of paperwork. But we solved all the cases. And fast."

"That's true."

Minelli took a gander at the files in his grasp, uncertain if he should continue that conversation.

He bounced on his toes.

"Maybe it's because my girlfriend is making me watch too much soap opera, maybe it's because sometimes it feels like you're a daughter to me-"

Lisbon diverged her attention to him, her eyes widened.

"Sir?"

"You know that, Lisbon. But the fact is I'm full of love advice, lately, and I think you need one right now."

"Love advice from you, sir?"

"Is that funny?"

"No. Of course not."

"Lisbon, I was you a few years back. A few decades, really. I gave too much to this job, and it's a good work, I'm proud of it, but it shouldn't be your whole life."

"Is not my whole life," she shrugged.

"Don't fool yourself, Teresa." Minelli cut the sound from the interrogation room.

"I'm not the best person to be giving this advice. I got divorced because I'd rather spend my whole night here looking at the suspect board than to come back home to my wife."

Lisbon wished she had something to say.

"I don't know what makes you happy," Minelli followed, "I don't have any kids and I can tell you I damn well don't wish I had, so I won't say you need to start a family."

Lisbon smiled and nodded.

"But you need to find a reason that makes you want to live. Every time you have a gun pointed at you, there's got to be a strong reason for you to wish to get out of there alive. Something, someone, that flashes in the back of your head."

"I have my brothers."

"Your brothers have their own lives now. I know you love them, but are they really the ones you want to see after working until late? You got hurt last month, were your brothers the last thing that crossed your mind when you heard the gunshot?"

Lisbon looked down, "I wasn't really thinking about anything, sir."

"Alright." He wouldn't insist. As long as she could see the answer, she didn't have to share it.

He handed her the files: "The work we do here? It's important. But someday this will be over, and you will feel empty if you don't build anything outside these walls. You're more than a cop, Lisbon, and your career won't be threatened because you're happy outside this building. You deserve better than you think you do."

\--  
Lisbon entered the bullpen and stood before her team, arms folded.

Van Pelt was making herself busy typing in her computer while Rigsby pretended he wasn't staring at the red-haired agent's back. Cho was reading a book at his desk.

"Just because we don't have any case doesn't mean we have nothing to do." Lisbon heard a groan somewhere, "Why don't you study old cases' reports? They can be very helpful."

They all looked at her like she had just told them to go clean their rooms.

Rigsby got up sighing. "I'll try to find something at the archive," Lisbon doubted he would come back in less than a couple of hours, or that he would spend those hours in the archive, she would make him compensate for that later.

The other two agents were back to their tasks as if she had never said anything.

"What do you have there, Cho?"

He looked up at her and then at Van Pelt, confused on why she thought it'd be a good idea to pick him to start a small talk.

"Just a book," Cho answered before going back to read. He was the only person who could do that without sounding rude and make whoever talked to him feel dumb and embarrassed at the same time.

"Okay… What about you, Van Pelt?"

"I-hm, I was just checking on something," she sounded nervous.

"Yes…?" Lisbon encouraged her to continue.

"I just saw something about Patrick Jane's circus."

"What about it?"

"They are doing a special show this weekend in a little town just 3 hours from here."

"Why is that relevant?"

"I don't know." She half shrugged and lowered her voice, "I thought you would like to know."

"How did you find out about that anyway?"

"I just- I saw it on their page… their Facebook page."

"Their Facebook page?" Lisbon repeated with a sneer.

"Fine. I found a picture with one of their trailers in the background and spent the last hour tracking them down."

"Why would you do that?"

"Come on, boss. You know why."

"No, I don't. You shouldn't be wasting your working hours and resources on a personal errand."

"I'm sorry. I was just trying to help you."

"Me? Help me how?"

"You've been acting weird since Jane went away. I thought you'd like to see him again."

Lisbon smiled unconvincingly, Jane would have noticed her high voice, "I've not been acting weird," she looked at Cho for confirmation.

"Yes, you have," he answered shortly.

"Guys, I'm fine."

She moved closer to Van Pet, "I appreciate the gesture, Grace, but I'm okay. Now what I need is for you to get back to work, alright? And make sure Rigsby is not eating everything in the fridge."

"Sure, boss." The agent answered listlessly. She handed Lisbon a piece of paper with an address written on it, "just in case."

Back to her place, Lisbon sat on her couch looking at the note in her hand.

Again she had been a fool to think no one would notice anything different about her. 'Weird' as Van Pelt put it.

Focusing on her job to forget her problems had always been a solution, but now her problems weren't allowing that, and she was failing on both ends.

Lisbon tried to act fine at work, and she did feel okay there, mostly, it's when she got home and he wasn't waiting for her, that a wave of melancholy would take hold of her.

It was all back to how it used to be, and she couldn't understand how, at any point, she could've thought she'd feel relieved when Jane left.

As much as Lisbon imagined moving on from Jane would be hard, she never thought she would spend nights worrying about his safety, or imagining if he was with someone else. She never knew jealousy could hurt that much. Often since he left, she would sleep in the living room. She told herself that her bedroom was too hot, that it had nothing to do with her hoping she would hear the idiot sleeping on her porch.

It was hard to get up knowing exactly how her day would go, and harder to come back to her empty home. It was such a short time she had spent with Jane but it was enough for him to become an indispensable part of her life.

She craved his touch, missed their talks, missed just looking at him when he was distracted, or pretending to be. He was the one she wanted making her laugh and comforting her after a hard day.

She felt pathetic for not being mad at Jane after that perverse farce she had to witness last time she saw the psychic. But after the shock, the anger vanished, and now, while looking back at that day, it was guilt that consumed her. Even if her sense of justice told her otherwise, she felt it was her fault.

She tried calling him, it took her three weeks to have the courage to dial his number, but since then, she'd try at least twice a day and there was never an answer. She threw her phone at the wall and cursed Jane, cursed herself.

She needed closure, needed to see him if at least to convince herself that it wasn't her fault that he was back in that life. That he was never worth it. It would be much easier to get over him if she had a reason to want that.

\---

Van Pelt did tell her that it was a one-weekend special.

The fair didn't seem half the size it was, back in LA. Few tents and even fewer booth games. They were still getting ready for the first opening night. Lisbon noticed new faces looking strangely at her, they had probably joined to another crew while their own people headed to the next city.

It was useless hiding her badge just as it was bringing it, but she did it anyway.

She was scared of what she was going to find. So nervous she felt herself tremble. The voice telling her she was going to regret coming after him, was back. It was the second time she did that for Jane. Exposing herself, allowing her feelings to show at the chance of getting rejected and feeling pitiful, for again, worrying about someone who didn't deserve.

Lisbon would avoid Patrick's airstream, for the time being, it would hurt too much to find someone else there with him.

She looked for his tent, it looked different, the little sign outside read "psychic readings". It was less creative and flashy than the last one, but it had to be there.

Lisbon hurried inside. Almost tripping in her haste, she bumped into someone just before getting in, making their drop something to the ground. Apologizing, Teresa picked up the object, got up and handed it to the old woman in front of her. She couldn't believe the coincidence when she realized she was about the return a crystal-like stone to the same person she had seen a month ago inside Jane's tent.

"It's you. You came here to get your money back?" Lisbon was so surprised, that she didn't think about the question, it just came out.

The woman's forehead furrowed, "I'm sorry?"

"Sorry. I meant that's..." she pointed to the object in the woman's trembling hands, "Patrick Jane's, right?"

"Yes…?" She sounded annoyed.

"So, you came here to return it?"

"Well, yes. I did. But Patrick Jane doesn't work here, any longer."

"What? What do you mean?"

She had probably understood it wrong. Lisbon felt disoriented, that was the last thing she expected to hear.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go."

The woman tried to walk past Lisbon but the other blocked her way.

Teresa put on her cop front and showed her badge. "I'm sorry, Ms.-"

"Harington," her stuck-up tone and snippy attitude pouring forth in every syllable.

"Ms. Harington. I really need to talk to Patrick, do you know where he is?"

She thought about it, "is he in trouble?"

"No," Lisbon reassured, "I just need to talk to him."

The woman hesitated, "you should look for a man called 'Pete'."

"Can't you just tell me where he is?"

Ms. Harington gazed Lisbon, warily.

"I promise you, he's not in trouble." Teresa insisted, "I'm not looking for him as a cop, I'm his friend." She put her badge back in her pocket.

"A friend? You didn't even know he had left."

"It's a long story."

The old woman continued reluctant, so Lisbon tried to gain her trust.

"Did it work?" She pointed to the rock, not sure of how to call it.

Lisbon saw something change in her look.

"Patrick did tell me it was probably too late, but I had to try." Her superior attitude reduced to a shell of a grieving grandmother.

"So you came here to get your money back?"

"What money, dear? I didn't pay for it."

"You didn't?"

"Of course not. I wanted to, I offered everything I had for it. Patrick said the highest price would be to accept that there are bigger things in life than us, and things no money will ever buy. He said he could never put an actual price on something so rare and magnificent. And he was right."

"But it didn't work for you."

She lowered her head, sorrowful, "No. It didn't spare my granddaughter. But she immediately felt better when she saw it, I'm sure it gave her at least a few more days to say goodbye to all her loved ones."

Lisbon tried not to look judgmental.

"And just because it didn't save my Elizabeth, doesn't mean it can't save the next girl in need."

"So that's why you're returning it," Lisbon said, uncomfortable.

"Yes," Ms. Harington recomposed herself. "And because Patrick made me promise I would. I'm too old to start breaking promises."

"Is that all he asked you to do?"

"He also made me promise I'd go at least once a month for the next year to visit the children at the hospital where my granddaughter was. I'll keep that promise as well."

"That's very noble of you."

"No, it isn't. It's not about the children. When you feel the end is near, and there's no one left to keep you company, fear grabs you by the ankle and you do anything to feel better about yourself. If at least Patrick Jane had a cure for loneliness."

"Agent Lisbon."

Pete showed up behind the old lady, walking with difficulty and breathing heavily, carrying logs in his arms.

In the blink of an eye, the widow returned to her presumptuous manners. "She said she's a friend of Mr. Jane."

"She is. Was."

Lisbon felt small and embarrassed. It was hard having such a friendly character angry at her.

"He's not one of us, anymore," Pete directed those words to Lisbon.

"I just heard about it," she answered quietly.

Feeling the awkwardness between the two, Ms. Harington proceeded, "I need to go now, if you'll excuse me."

"No, wait." Lisbon put herself in her way again, "I can give the… artifact back to Patrick if you want."

"I don't know," her wrinkled shaky hands held the rock closer to her chest, she looked at Pete.

"Come on, Pete." Lisbon urged. "I need to see him."

He grumbled under his breath, "You can trust her, Ms. Harington."

The woman looked at the object in her hand and back to the detective in front of her, "That would save me from a lot of problems." She stared at those big green eyes, "sure, dear. Take it." She handed the object and a paper with Jane's location, "Just promise you'll get it back to Patrick. Tell him 'thank you'."

"I promise." Feeling bad for her, Lisbon added, "don't worry Ms. Harington, you did everything you could for your granddaughter."

The woman nodded and slowly walked out of there.

Lisbon turned to Pete when they were alone, "he really left."

"He's trying to move on. Don't ruin that for him."

The big man walked away before she could answer.

Even Saint Teresa felt it wasn't fair to blame her for all the wrongs Jane had done because he was rejected. But that didn't help her feel any better, and she could understand why Jane's best friend, a sort father figure to him, had to direct his anger towards her.

She checked the paper with Jane's location, expecting the name of a casino, or some other shady place but she was rather surprised by what was written there.  
\--

The next chapter will be the last one.

Thank you for reading until here. ❤️


	16. Final

Lisbon parked her car on the dead-end street. The address led her an isolated area in LA.

Apparently, Jane had never left town.

She could see he was sitting on the porch swing bench. Blue pants and white shirt. Arms crossed, his face turned to the sun with his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth on a chilly day.

Lisbon still hadn't realized just how much she missed him until that moment.

She had gone after Jane considering to put an end to that story, and now that possibility seemed horrifying. It almost made her turn around and go away because avoiding that conversation would mean they still had some sort of connection.

She got off the car and crossed the yard to the porch. When Lisbon climbed the first step, Jane turned his head around to the source of that noise.

Lips slightly parted, eyebrows somewhat raised. The only signs of his surprise.

"Hey," Lisbon said shyly.

Jane sat up straight, a tiny smile crept on his lips. "Hey," his voice was delicate.

She glanced around, fidgeting.

"Can I?" She indicated the bench.

"Sure."

She sat by his side trying to keep a distance, struggling not to touch him though it felt like such a natural thing to do.

"Nice place."

"Meh. It's a borrow."

She grinned, "you seem to be doing fine here."

"I'm managing."

There was too much to say, to ask, and Lisbon didn't know how to begin. She licked her lips trying to find the right words.

Jane waited, he didn't seem to plan to start that conversation.

"I have something for you."

"You do?"

She unwrapped the stone in her hand and showed it to him.

Jane got it and threw it in the air. "What is this doing with you?"

"Ms. Harington asked me to bring it back to you."

He stopped playing with the object, "her granddaughter?"

"She's gone."

Jane slowly put the rock down on the floor.

"It was very nice of you," Lisbon said.

Jane looked at her puzzled.

"You gave her hope."

"I gave her a rock, Teresa."

"Come on, she thought it was much more than that."

"If she had, she wouldn't have returned it."

"Don't be so cynical. She asked me to tell you 'thank you'. She was very grateful."

He shrugged, "It's important for her to believe she did everything she could. Even pursuing a miracle."

"And you helped her with that."

Jane moved his head to both sides, distracted.

"Why did you ask her to return it?" Lisbon tried to continue the conversation.

"So it would feel more… real. So she would have something to do after her granddaughter was gone."

"I suppose the visits to the hospital are for the same reason?"

"Something to that effect." Jane gazed her, frowning, "Where did you find Ms. Harington?"

"She was at the circus when I went there to look for you."

"You went after me?"

"You wouldn't answer my calls."

"You called?"

"Like sixty times," she answered irritated. "Haven't you checked your phone for the past month?"

"I don't have a phone. The old one stopped working."

Lisbon wondered if 'stopped working' meant he broke it.

Jane got up from the bench and sat on the porch railing, facing Lisbon.

She looked at him anxiously and uncertain. "She told me you never made her pay for it."

"No. I didn't."

"But that morning…Why did you want me to believe you did?"

He sighed, "because I knew it would make you go away, Teresa."

"Wow," she smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry." He wasn't apologizing for the lie, but for telling it to her so bluntly.

"Did you wanted to get rid of me that badly? Were you really that angry with me?"

"No, I wasn't angry."

"You were hurt." She completed.

"I was… disappointed."

Lisbon pressed her lips together and nodded.

Jane walked away and stopped in front of the porch's steps, staring at the quiet, empty street.

"I'm sorry. When I said you were the last person I wanted to hurt, I meant it." She said to his back.

"I know that Teresa, it's okay. It wasn't the first time things didn't work out how I expected. You did nothing wrong."

Lisbon joined him, "I don't know about that. But if you didn't want to talk to me you should have told me to go away. You didn't need to set up that ridiculous scene."

"I thought it'd be easier for both of us if you hated me."

"I never hated you. I felt guilty because I thought it was my fault that you were back with the scams."

"So you came here to clear your conscious?"

"You know why I came here, Patrick," she lowered her voice, "I missed you."

His expression softened.

"Did you miss me?" Lisbon added, insecure. She felt a little pathetic for asking, but she needed to know. That last month could've been very different for both of them.

Jane reached out and gently brushed a lock of hair away from her face.

She held her breath, and only when she couldn't feel his touch anymore she let it out. It was when she noticed the sound in the background.

She frowned and quickly turned her head to Jane's front door, "is a baby crying in there?"

"Uh, yeah," he seemed disoriented, "give me a minute to check on him."

He entered the house; a second later he came back and put his head out of the door, "come on in," he called Lisbon with a smile.

She followed him inside. The house was nearly empty, not much, aside from a couch, stove and a refrigerator in the big kitchen/living room.

Jane entered the bedroom where the baby was crying, she watched from the entrance as Patrick got the little boy from the bassinet over a bed, and rocked him.

Lisbon watched him with wet eyes. That could have been her future.

She was surprised with herself, longing for something she didn't even know she wanted

When the baby stopped crying Jane walked up to her.

With the little one in his arms, he stopped in front of Lisbon, beaming at her, his eyes were so tender and loving Lisbon felt a lump in her throat. His smile reaching the eyes was the most ridiculous grin she had seen on his face. Before he could see her eyes getting wet again, she looked down at the baby.

"He's beautiful," she said faintly, and caressed his hair, the little boy babbled in response. "Is he Ann's?"

"He is," Jane whispered, "just a month ago he could almost fit in the palm of my hand."

"Yeah," Lisbon choked, "a lot can change in a month."

Jane's eyes narrowed inquisitively. "Teresa," he shook his head.

"It's okay, Patrick."

He saw the tears shimmered in her eyes before she left the room.

Jane put the baby back to sleep, giving Lisbon a moment alone as he thought she needed.

When he went out of the room, she was standing in the middle of his kitchen holding a magic eight ball with both hands.

Jane slowly made his way to her, "I had a lot of questions about the future. About what was right and wrong. I wanted to run away but I was afraid things could be worse. I thought this could help me figure things out."

Jane got the toy from her hand, "but you already know that." He gave a half-smile. "Guess I owe you a wish."

"You were a very inquisitive child."

"I was," was Jane's automatic answer.

His eyes were focused on her lips; his breath was heavy; it was clear what was on his mind.

Lisbon found herself drawn to him. She was so close to having him again like she had been desiring for so long, but it didn't feel right.

Denying herself that pleasure and comfort demanded so much she didn't think she'd have the strength to do it.

She didn't need to.

Jane exhaled, frustrated, "what is it, Teresa?"

"I can't do this," Lisbon stepped back, "I can't get in the middle of this."

"You're not getting in the middle of anything."

"Patrick," she called him, "you're taking care of her son!"

He tried to get closer but she distanced herself.

"I missed my chance."

Jane looked distressed. His eyebrows drew together. "No," he whispered, firmly.

"I saw the way you were looking at her baby, smiling from ear to ear. This is what you want. What you need."

"You clearly don't know what I want or need." Jane stepped forward, and this time managed to get closer to Lisbon.

The corners of his eyes crinkled, "Teresa, that baby is adorable," he somewhat chuckled, only sweeter, "but if I was smiling at anyone, it was to you."

"Me?"

"I had this ridiculous image in my head of you and..."

"And what?" she asked softly.

He hesitated, "it doesn't matter. Teresa, I don't know what you think it's happening, but I'm not with Ann."

Uncertainty clouded her features "Okay. Maybe. But you've moved on...from me."

"What do you mean? What did you expect me to do after you left me?"

"I expected you to try. I know what I did, I messed up. But if you really cared you'd have tried harder, I know you, Patrick! You thought I wouldn't come after you and you didn't even try to reach me again. You just gave up."

"You don't know what you're saying."

"You could have convinced me it was the right thing to do."

"There is no right or wrong here, Teresa. I want you to want to be with me like I want to be with you. I shouldn't have to convince you of that."

Lisbon blinked and tear rolled down her cheek, Jane wiped it away and stroked her face with his thumb.

"Stop trying to find reasons not to do this, Teresa. Tell me why you came after me."

"I've told you."

"You missed me, I know, but what does that mean? Because I also know how you felt about me before, and that wasn't enough. It wasn't enough for you to think I was worth a relationship."

"Don't say that," she shook her head, "that's not true."

"I'm sorry." He waited a moment before insisting, "why did you come, Teresa?"

She searched for the answer in his eyes. "Because I tried moving on from you but I can't. Because I don't want to."

A tender smile played at the corner of Jane's lips.

"I can't even remember the last time I was as happy as in those two weeks we had. But I was so scared of everything that could go wrong. I was scared of changing the whole idea I had of what my future should be like for a relationship that had no chance to work. I didn't trust us. I should have told you to stay. I should have said something."

He touched her forehead with his, and Lisbon brushed her fingers against his stubble.

"I came here because I wanted to give us a chance," her voice broke, I should have given us a chance."

"That's all I wanted," his eyes settled on hers, "all that I want."

One of his hands went to her neck and he bought her lips to his. It was short and brute, charged with need from both.

He held her firmly against him, their faces touching, their eyes closed. "I've been trying to fix the mess my life is right now, Teresa. Trying to move on from the past, from the psychic role, from everything, but not from you. I swear I never gave up."

His voice struggled in his throat, surprising Lisbon. "I wanted to give you space and use that time to settle down here, to get used to a house without wheels, to a life without tricks. I wanted to prove you and myself that I could do this. But I was going to come back to you. I was always going to come back."

Jane's mouth brushed against Lisbon's. Once, twice. Her lips parted for him.

Slow and consuming.

His touch was hot and gentle, so familiar. He tasted like tea, as usual, that made her smile.

Lisbon's small body melted into his. Her knees became weak.

"You asked me if I missed you? You have no idea." Jane gasped for air, "I missed you, agent Lisbon." He kissed her, "I missed you, every little bit of you."

They walked backward until Jane's body was pressing Lisbon against the kitchen's counter.

They stared at each other panting. Lisbon's eyes darted to his mouth, her nails dug into his upper arm. She nibbled his lower lip and Jane groaned and kissed her roughly.

Lisbon reached down and opened his belt, allowing her hands to go inside his trousers. She cupped his ass and proceeded to scratch her way up his entire back, getting Jane to involuntarily thrust his hips against her.

"Hm," Jane held back a moan, "I think my ass missed just as much as I did," he made Lisbon giggle.

Jane went down kissing her neck and shoulders, his hands caressed her entirely. Lisbon gripped his hair, as she shivered and moaned. She arched her back, trying to touch every inch of him, setting his body on fire.

Her jacket felt to the floor followed by Jane's fingers flicking open the buttons of her shirt, exposing her stomach and her black lacy bra. He continued, kissing the hot skin between her breasts, going further down until he was on his knee.

The door abruptly opened and all three jumped startled.

The woman at the door let out a short scream and used both hands to cover her eyes.

Lisbon pulled her shirt close around her, her face immediately became red.

Jane cursed under his breath and got up, he shielded Lisbon with his body, putting his hands on the counter on either side of her. She embraced herself and laid her head on his shoulder, turned to the opposite side of the door.

"I'm so sorry." The woman smiled apologetically, "I swear I didn't see anything." she urged.

"There's nothing to see, Ann. Stop that."

She peeked out from between her fingers before dropping her hands to her sides. Jane did not look amused. "Sorry, Patty."

He breathed out and nodded.

Still pressed against Jane's chest, Lisbon turned her head around to sneak a peek at the woman.

She saw Ann squinting curiously at her.

"You're the cop! Teresa, right?"

"Right," Lisbon smiled, hiding her embarrassment. She pulled her head away from Jane's chest just enough to shake the woman's hand.

Feeling she became a bigger annoyance standing close to them, Ann stepped away again. "I've heard a few things about you."

"Really?" Lisbon glanced up at Jane, "I heard about you, too."

"Nothing good, I'm sure," the woman joked.

"Ann, I think the little guy there is missing you," Jane said to avoid further comments.

"Yes, of course!" She walked past them, "keep it PG until we're back please."

Jane glanced at Lisbon shaking his head, apologizing. She was laughing, despite the embarrassment.

"What did you tell her about me?" Lisbon shout-whispered to Jane when Ann was out of earshot.

He laughed quietly and pressed her closer to him so she couldn't glare at him, "I told her you were the mean tiny cop that broke my heart."

She hit his back and felt his chest trembling with laughter.

"Okay, I think I got everything," Ann showed up in the leaving room carrying the bassinet with one hand and the baby's bag over her shoulder.

She looked down at the sleeping baby, "I don't know if you hypnotized my son or got him drunk but you're going to have to teach me your trick."

"How's your situation?" Jane asked.

"Well," Ann glanced outside, thru the front window, "my situation is in the car. Sometimes he needs a kick in the right direction but he's a good guy. We're going to be fine."

"Good," he smiled without showing his teeth.

"We should go," Ann gazed with longing at the blond. "Thanks, Patrick. I promise I'll find a new babysitter."

"I think he enjoyed it more than he'll let you know," Lisbon teased.

"Oh really? That's great. Maybe I'll use uncle Patty's services again."

Jane could have played around with the situation but he knew Lisbon was doing what she could to hide her discomfort while praying that situation would be over soon.

"It was a pleasure, Teresa," Ann waved on her way out.

Lisbon nodded at the woman.

With one last look at Jane, she left, closing the door behind her.

The couple was left in complete silence after the car outside pulled away.

Lisbon was the first one to talk. "Well, that was embarrassing."

"I'm sorry."

"She's nothing like I pictured she would be."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Neither. She's just... different."

Jane chuckled and pecked her, "fine you can tell me later. I think it'll be interesting to hear."

"Is she your neighbor or something?"

"Still jealous?"

"I'm not!"

"A month ago I asked her to get the contact from an old client, the owner of this house. I hadn't seen her since them. Today she showed up and asked me to play the babysitter for the boy."

She caressed Jane's chest over his shirt, "the way she looked at you. It didn't seem like she wanted to…let go."

"You're reading too much into it."

"Patrick."

He chewed on his bottom lip, "fine, maybe. But it doesn't matter. I want nothing with her, and I know Ann won't get in our way no matter how she's feeling. In fact, I don't think I'll see her again after today."

"And you're okay with that?"

"You know I am. I wish her and her baby a very happy life, but I don't want to be part of it."

She held his lips together to keep him from kissing her again, "just one more thing."

"Yeah?" he murmured.

"Before, when you said you had this image in your mind-"

He threw his head back dramatically, "can we talk about this in a year or two? I don't want to scare you off again."

"You're not going to scare me off. Come on!"

"You know exactly what I was imagining, Teresa."

"Me with a baby," he nodded and she brought him closer, "our baby?"

"Yeah…" he stared at her, "doesn't that scare you?"

"Of course it does, it's insane."

He laughed, "oh god not again."

"But it's nice. It's nice to know you can see us together, in the future."

"Of course I can. A whole year from now."

"More like four."

"Hm. Two?"

"Three."

"I can change your mind about that later."

"We'll see about that," she laughed when he rolled his eyes. "We still have a lot to figure out don't we?"

"We both want this; we'll make it work."

"I know."

"By the way, I might have already figured out what I want to do. Not forever or anything, but as a start."

"You mean a job? What is it?"

"It's sort of a crazy idea, but I think you'll like."

She raised her eyebrows, "well…?"

"I'll let you know later. But we'll be spending a lot of time together."

She wrinkled her forehead as a shy smile grew on her lips "wait, the CBI? You want to work at the CBI?"

He smirked and wrapped his hands around her waist, touching her naked skin under the open shirt, and crushing their bodies together. "You'll see."

"Patrick!" Lisbon whined, she tried to pull him away but she lacked the strength, it was too hard to concentrate when he was pleasuring her that way.

"Damn you," she moaned. "I think I'll use my wish right now."

"Sorry curious one, you can only use it on working days, during working hours."

Jane laughed at her indignant expression, "I'll tell you more about it later." He continued to kiss her on the way to his room, "right now we have a lot of catching up to do."

I hope no one felt cheated by the end of the last episode…


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As sappy as it gets…

Jane was calmly whispering to the suspect when door busted open making him jump on his seat.

"Undo it now!" Lisbon said between her teeth.

"What? But I was just about to get the truth-"

"Now!"

Jane's eyes widened. "Fine. Geez."

"Be quick about it."

"Yes, ma'am."

When he left the room Lisbon was outside, shooting him that scary look he'd learned to avoid.

"How many times have I told you, no hypnotism!"

"Relax, woman. Is no big deal."

"Tell that to his lawyer!" She whispered as the bald man passed thru them and entered the interrogation room.

"Oh."

"See the mess you could've done?"

"Still, we could know all the truth by now if only you had stalled him for a couple of minutes."

She walked away and Jane followed.

He could wait to make Rigsby pay for telling Lisbon what he was doing.

"I haven't been here in almost a month and I don't even get a kiss?"

"Is your first day here in almost a month and you have already caused trouble?"

"Well," he shrugged, "there's always two ways to look at something."

She stopped at the CBI's kitchen to pour herself some coffee from the pot.

"What have you done to our son?"

"What have I done? You asked as if I could've forgotten him over the oven."

"So?" she asked with an eyebrow raised, "Where is he?"

"He's with Van Pelt."

"Patrick!"

"What? She can keep him alive for five minutes."

"She's working!"

He ignored her, "And Cho's wasn't around and Rigsby, well, it's Rigsby."

"You can't keep bringing him here."

"Come on," he tilted his head, "I love to show him off and you do too."

"That's why you came here? To show him off?"

"Of course, but not just that."

Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"We missed you-"

"Don't try to sweet-talk me."

He smirked, "I'd never do that."

"Right," she tried to hurry to the bullpen with a cup of coffee in her hand but Jane stopped her from leaving.

"What?"

He leaned forward and kissed her.

"That's all I wanted."

He laughed at her failed attempt to keep a straight face.

Back to the bullpen, Van Pelt's desk was surrounded by women from all over the CBI.

Lisbon stopped at the entrance, she looked over her shoulder to a worried Jane.

"Okay, that might be a little too much attention."

She smirked, "I thought you liked to show him off."

"As long as they don't run away with him out of the building."

"Shush," Lisbon wrinkled her nose, "I'll go get him."

Her son was a lot more like his father in that way, Lisbon thought. He loved the attention, laughed at everybody that played with him and only ever became fussy if someone tried to take him from her arms.

Forced by their jobs, the women soon left. Her team and Jane were the only ones left around.

"Does this mean Jane is back?" Cho asked the couple, stepping away from Lisbon to avoid the baby's little claw from grabbing his face.

"Yes. On Monday. We got a spot at the CBI's daycare," Lisbon was the one to answer.

"Eh, we will see how that goes. I can always become a stay home dad."

"No, you cannot. I already have a lot of files for you to take a look at. Will is going to be fine without us for a few hours. And we can always go check on him when we have some time."

"Right, honey?" Will giggled when his mother touched his nose with hers.

"He'll do better than Jane in those few days he had to work without Lisbon when she was on maternity leave," Rigsby said laughing and pat Cho on the back.

"Yeah," the agent exchanged an awkward look with Jane.

"I'm not even going to ask," Lisbon glanced at the two men. "Come on guys, the day is over, let's go home."

"Uh, actually, I asked Grace to take care of Will for us for a couple of hours. I need to take you somewhere."

"Where?"

Lisbon could lively remember every moment she had withJane in that circus. The whole atmospheric, the people and even the smells brought back lovely memories from her life at that time. Even their fights had a special place in her heart, because everything, good or bad that happened between them, had as a result her life right now, and she wouldn't change a thing about it.

But Jane's way out of the circus hadn't always been easy. Is hard to stay and fight when you spend your whole life running away and avoiding problems.

He would always carry some aspects of that life with him, even miss it, no matter what he said.

"Are you really not going to tell me what we're doing here?"

Jane had his arm around her shoulder as they walked among the tents. "Nope."

"How did you know they were in the city?"

"Is not a secret, Teresa."

"I know," she shrugged.

"Just trust me," he squeezed her closer, "we're almost there."

"There where? If you're here to visit Sam and Pete, you shouldn't have brought me along. I'm sure they would prefer you hadn't."

"There," he pointed to a big tent in the middle.

Her eyes narrowed, "what are you up to, Patrick Jane?"

"Nothing," the corner of his mouth quirked up, "come on!"

At a faster pace, with Jane's excitement contaminating Lisbon, they reached the tent at the center.

Teresa entered first, looking around for whatever he could have hidden there, she looked up expecting to see the light stars she saw the first time Jane took her there, but she couldn't see a thing with the place illuminated like that.

"Okay," she beamed at him, "what is it, why did you bring me here?" Excitement and a hint of nervousness in her voice.

Jane hugged her from behind, arms crossing high over her chest, "do you remember this place?"

"Of course," she swallowed down the memories, "you took care of me that night. Comforted me."

"I tried," he whispered in her ear and kissed her head.

"But what are we doing here?"

"I want to ask you a question."

"Okay…?"

"We've been together for over three years now, living together for three years. And now we have Will, the most incredible baby boy in the world."

Jane turned her in his arms.

"We're a married couple if I ever saw one. In fact, we've gone thru some stuff most married couples have yet to face. I know it hasn't always been easy to be by my side."

Her big green eyes stared him back, worried, while her hand tenderly stroked his hair.

"What I am saying is, nothing will truly change. I promise I'll keep doing my best, every day, to deserve your love and your respect."

"Patrick…" she whispered, delighted with his words, but still confused.

"I promise to always be supportive, to never close my eyes to your needs and to always protect our family, even though I think you'll do a much better job at that."

"And don't worry, I'll still be the pain in the ass, 'uncanny but irritating' man you met, because that's who you fell in love with."

She chuckled, "it's true." Tears filled her eyes.

"I'll do everything to keep you happy, Teresa." He stared at her for a long moment. "I love you."

Jane pecked her lips; his hands left her body.

He talked while walking backward: "when you said I'm a show-off, you were right. So forgive me for not kneeling in the middle of our kitchen but I didn't think that would suffice."

Lisbon was completed focused on his face, and the words leaving his lips, so much that she didn't realize what he did to make the lights go off.

But as soon as everything went dark she knew where to look at.

"Oh my god."

A light show. A beautiful night sky made just for her, spelling 'marry me?' in the dark spaces.

She sensed his presence, back by her side.

He was looking at her as if her mere presence, after years together, could take his breath away, and he was fascinated to realize that. "You're beautiful."

She beamed at him, unable to speak.

"I promise to do something original for our anniversary, but I thought going back to our early days would be the right way to do this."

"it's perfect," a tear rolled down her cheek.

"So?" he looked up at the lights and back at her, "Teresa Lisbon," he licked his lips anxiously, "I want you to be my wife," he stepped closer, and with unsteady hands, opened the little ring box in front of her, "will you marry me?"

"Yes! Of course."

She kissed him passionately.

When they broke apart, Jane's eyes were glistening.

He drew his eyebrows together, "you sure?"

"Oh come on, you never doubted I'd say yes."

He breathed in heavily as if he was recovering from running a marathon, "I didn't think I did, but I have never been so relieved to a hear a 'yes'."

Jane looked around confused, "I forgot, I should have kneeled."

"That wouldn't have been corny at all."

"After all this, why not go the whole way?"

"Shush." Lisbon smirked, "come here," she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his lips to hers.

"Wait!" the word sounded muffled against Jane's mouth, she pointed to the little box in his hand, "shouldn't you…?"

"Oh, right."

Lisbon extended her hand and Jane placed the ring on her finger.

She admired the Jewelry, and then the man in front of her.

Biting her lip, smiling shyly, "I love you, Patrick Jane."

"You do?" he asked with the silliest grin, looking surprised.

He'd always act that way every time he heard that from her.

"Yeah, a little bit," she laughed before kissing him again.

That night Lisbon and Jane found a whole new way to use the safety net inside the tent…

 

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over, it's done.
> 
> Thank you for reading it.
> 
> And thank you so much for commenting.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it.


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